Return of Civilization
by Shi-Woon
Summary: Many civilizations have vanished from our galaxy but what would happen should some of them return. Will they live together peacefully or will there be a war that the galaxy has never seen before. Chapters are currently being edited, so update will take awhile.
1. Fall of Charum Hakkor

**Return of Civilization**

**Summary: Many civilizations have vanished from our galaxy but what would happen should some of them return. Will they live together peacefully or will there be a war that the galaxy has never seen before. This is my first story so the summary is bad but please give it a chance. I take no credit for anything that you are about to read. **

**Chapter 1 Fall of Charum Hakkor**

A human male stood in severely damaged battle armor staring down the only living Forerunner in his ruined home. The powered armor he had worn since the beginning of the war was now beyond repair. Everything was gone except for the nanotech bodysuit and sleek helmet. Several months ago the Didact managed to land an invasion force on the planet. The planetary defenses and available fleets couldn't help, and that left the ground forces to fight without much orbital support. For the past few months, the war raged all over the planet. No stone was left unturned. the fighting took place high above the skies, all the way to the bottom of the planets oceans. Each day that passed the Forerunners received new reinforcements and slowly they began to beat back the exhausted and weary defenders. It took a year but the military finally launched the last remaining _Jaegers_.

Jaegers were mobile exoskeletons that ranged from 70 meters in height to 80. Their purpose was to destroy everything that stood in their path, and they were designed to rival the Forerunners Warrior-Sphinx. What made them unique from the Warrior-Sphinx was that it required two Humans or San Shyuum to interface with the machine making it a giant mechanized body made out of metal for their respective pilots. Their minds were combined to form one entity. Even though it was a boost to his battered garrisons there were only a few dozen left from the thousand year war they have been fighting with Ecumene.

As the war on planet dragged out the fleets in space watched as the once beautiful blue seas change to blood red. The blood of hundreds of billions were flowing from their bodies to the oceans. On the land, laid billions of bodies while the hulls of destroyed ships and millions of vehicles of war were strewn around beyond repair. The once beautiful planet named Charum Hakkor that also had the largest sum of Precursor constructs in the galaxy was now a graveyard of warriors and there was nothing that could save it.

Since Charum Hakkor was still the capital of the Human and San Shyuum Alliance or the HSSA for short, it gave the battered armies and navies the will to fight on. Some even hoped that they would be able to drive the Ecumene off the planet. Deep down inside every soldier they already knew the planet would fall like those before and it was just a matter of time. But in these dark times there was still a light that shown through the darkness and it was thanks to the Political Commander Yprin. She proposed an idea during the early stages of the Human-Flood War to slowly pull valuable assets out of the galaxy and move them to one of the two satellite galaxies that orbited the Milky Way.

The government knew that we might inevitably run into the flood out there, but they had no choice. When they took office they were sworn to govern and protect their people. As the war dragged to an end all available military and civilian personal were moved out of the galaxy. When the war changed to them facing the Forerunner Ecumene all redeployment moved at a much faster rate. They knew their was no chance of victory since they were spread thin, and so it became their contingency plan. Even though this was the fall back plan to rebuild from the ashes they would be leaderless. The government decided they would stay behind and be executed along side their warriors. Some called it bravery, but many knew that if they didn't stay behind it would be fishy and the Forerunners might find there remnants and finish the job they started.

The human male took his helmet off. This was his last battle and all he wanted was to examine the surroundings his friends had died for. All around laid the burnt and charred bodies of former soldiers and enemies. The situation was also incredibly eerie, but he could have sworn that the voices of friends, were telling him to live even though that was impossible. He had been planning to die here. Not only did he fail to protect his friends, but he also failed in stopping the Didact's forces. Staring up towards the smoky sky, he tried his best to ignore the smell of burnt flesh. For a second silence followed, but soon the sound of his laughter echoes through the city. Unlike most laughs, his wasn't filled with happiness. Instead it was a laughter of sorrow, sadness, and most of all pain. Turning to face the Forerunner who had killed his friends he sighed with content.

He was known as Lieutenant Alpha-117, and a Shadow Paladin. The Shadow Paladins were created to combat the Forerunners Warrior-Servants on an equal footing. They were the most trained and experienced soldiers in the military and now he found himself, as the last one alive. The rest had died fighting the Flood, and now the Forerunners.

The name he was given at birth though was 'Achamoth' and the only people left that knew it now was Forthenco and Yprin, the rest were either deceased or missing. The Forerunner drew her hard light sword ready to finish off the last human in the area and her rival since the beginning of the war. A part of her was wondering though why the human was laughing out loud when he was about to die.

Achamoth looked at the Forerunner with amusement, "I find it ironic how in the end, my empire gets destroyed and after everything we did for the good of the galaxy. If it wasn't for our sacrifice this galaxy might have been consumed by darkness long ago and this is how we are repaid."

The Forerunner was now shocked because he talked about the good his empire did when they destroyed Forerunner Planets without a second thought. Even if she wanted nothing else than to kill the human that has stood in her way. They had been fighting one another since the beginning of the war and now a part of her that once cared for all life when she was a Lifeworker wanted to hear what he had to say before she killed him.

"You call what you did was for the greater good!" she shouted. "Your Empire wiped out 50 defenseless species, how is that good in any way. Not only that you then dared to attack our planets, how is anything you did for the greater good." She screamed wanting to know why they did it since they killed her family during the early stages of the war and she realized she had a chance to find some answers since the human was a commanding officer.

Achamoth looked at her for a second and something told him that she wasn't saying something. "We did what we did because it was the best. Had we not burned those worlds to dust as soon as we did then the people on them would have become something worse and we saved them from that horrible fate."

"Saved… Fate… are you saying the killing of my family was fate!" she screamed in disbelief. A small part of her was shocked though by her sudden emotions since she hasn't felt them in so long and she believed that Forerunners were above their emotions. While she was shouting at him Achamoth stood there emotionless waiting for the time when she would run him through with her sword and end his existence.

"Don't speak about family to me Forerunner. I see now you joined this war to get revenge right? Then tell me… Chant-to-Green, Lifeworker turned temporary Warrior-Servant tell me what kind of humans and san shyuum you killed for that matter."

Chant was to say the least shocked that the Human had managed to guess her name but not only that but her rate as well. Then again for the past millennium they have clashed against one another on thousands of planets as well as space battles and each time they were drawn to one another not caring about the enemies that surrounded one another.

"What do you mean? I have killed hundreds of thousands of Humans and San Shyuum and yet you speak of it as if it is important."

"Have you ever thought about the families you killed? Sure we killed your family but do you truly believe extinguishing another's family is the right thing to do? Last I checked Forerunners upheld the mantle and that all life was sacred. I know you are currently a Warrior-Servant in status but I know you never took their mutations since you are still a Lifeworker."

Chant was now beyond angry since the human now dared to lecture her on her beliefs as if he suffered the same anguish of losing his family. "How dare you human lecture me when we are nothing alike? Let me guess you're going to say you lost your family as well but guess what this is the war you started and it is your fault your family is dead as well as mine."

-Line Break-

Achamoth stood there not saying a word instead he recalled the last time he ever saw his mother. He was ten years old as they were running down the streets to reach the nearest military outpost. The planet was being overrun by the shaping sickness and an evacuation was ordered for all civilians. Now this was where things changed forever for him.

A flood combat form was running on the building towards them with only one thought _food._ Finally leaping from the building with abnormal strength the thing landed on Achamoth's mom pinning her to the ground. Tentacles came out of its head intent on devouring the women and making her the same as him however she had no intention to go easily.

"Ace my son run!" the mother screamed as she struggled to hold the thing back. Her husband had already passed away and now the only thing she wanted was for her son to survive. However Achamoth was shell shocked his mother was pinned to the ground and he could do nothing about it.

"Someone please save my mom. Please someone!" The boy shouted as he struggled to move his legs. Just as he was about to give up hope a hand landed on the boys shoulder. Achamoth looked up to see a human hand and as he slowly looked up he saw the face of his hero Forthenco had arrived at last.

-Line Break-

Achamoth looked at Chant for a second anger as the obvious facial expression however he remembered his mothers last words to him and stopped before it got out of hand. "Chant I lost my family before this war. I lost her at the age of no younger than ten. I know how it feels to lose your family however unlike you I was there and I saw them devoured right in front of my eyes."

Chant lowered her blade slightly hearing that revelation. Sure she lost her family but she still had the memories of them but the human before her lost them when he was a kid and that must of shell shocked him. Now the question was who killed his family, was it the Forerunners or was it this mysterious force they always talk about. Since this might be the last time they ever met she might as well get answers to questions she has asked herself.

"Tell me human, what is this threat your empire speaks of? I've asked myself countless times why you would be foolish enough to attack the Ecumene when we dwarf you in everything. Before your empire falls I need to know why everything points to something that forced you to attack us." Chant didn't know why she was seeking answers from the human when a second ago she wanted to kill him. However she developed an understanding about the human and his species and it was they do things when there are no alternatives.

Achamoth chuckled a little since Chant was turning to him for answers but he might as well play a game. "If you want to find out about the threat you'll have to find out on your own. I must ask though when it returns will the Ecumene succeed where we failed or will it finish what it started because your version of the mantle will hinder your combat abilities."

"What do you mean succeed where you failed? Is it not eliminated and what did it start?" Chant asked now entirely focused on what he said. However she had to remind herself that she was still in battle and that he would most likely not answer her questions. Even though most Forerunners believed this threat was an excuse to attack she didn't now because the human in front of her talked as if he had experienced it firsthand.

Before Achamoth could say anything a human drop ship landed behind him. Chant watched as it opened its back hatch and 10 soldiers poured out armed and ready for a conflict that was already over. As they ran toward Achamoth they pointed their rifles at her ready for a battle but before they could fire Achamoth raised his right hand ordering them to stop. They all looked at each and lowered their weapons albeit grudgingly.

All of a sudden six Warrior-Servants appeared on both sides of Chant. All of them had various rifles in hand ready to fight as well. Just like Achamoth, Chant ordered her soldiers to stand down as she still needed answers and she would be damned to let this chance go away.

"Now tell me human will you answer my questions or will we return to fighting and this time I promise you won't survive." Chant asked as Achamoth just stared at the Forerunners. Sighing he turned around and walked away not caring about the fact that his back was now facing the enemy. "Where are you going? You haven't answered my questions yet!" Chant yelled after him but before she could move his soldiers raised their rifles ready to fire should she make a move. Achamoth turned around again to face her.

"Chant-to-Green I have no obligation to tell you anything. Before you threaten me with death let me say I could care less. Besides I think there are enough bodies in this city and I don't think there should be anymore added today." Before he turned around he looked at his helmet one last time before he tossed it to her. She was surprised but caught it and examined it, most of it was broken and nothing seemed special about it.

"If you seek answers you'll find them in that helmet… however I insist you wait till my planet falls and when it does show the Didact and the Librarian. Even though were enemies I don't want this galaxy to be consumed and I sincerely hope that the Ecumene will be able to finish what we started." With that he turned around heading to the drop ship. "Also my name is Achamoth farewell Chant-to-Green." Slowly his soldiers pulled back not lowering their weapons until they got on the drop ship and then the ship left heading towards the capital.

Chant looked at the helmet in her hand and wondered if what Achamoth said was true. Could all her questions be answered by this object that now lied in her hand?

"Chant-to-Green, the Didact has asked to see you immediately." A Warrior-Servant said.

Unlike most Forerunners he felt the war was wrong in every way. Sure he has fought since the beginning but he saw the toll the war was taking on both sides. On thousands of planets lay the bodies of billions of Humans, San Shyuum, and Forerunners. At first he believed the war would be quick since the Ecumene was the most advanced in the galaxy. However he learned the hard way that this empire would not fall easily instead they fought to the last man inflicting as many casualties as possible.

"Tell him I'll be there as soon as possible." Chant then teleported back to their outpost leaving the Warrior-Servants in the battlefield turned graveyard. They didn't notice it earlier but bodies were everywhere and it made them wonder how far this empire would go before they accepted defeat and with that thought that they teleported back to the outpost.

**Charum Hakkor Capital  
1 month before its fall**

Achamoth found himself standing in the council chambers. He had been called to meet with the last leaders and it was apparently big. At most they only had a month left before the capital fell and when it did the remnants would retreat to the smaller satellite galaxy to rebuild in secret.

"Everyone please we must pull the Flood out of hiding. If we can draw them out we can use them as a weapon against the Forerunner's Ecumene." Forthenco pleaded.

"Forthenco what your asking is foolish. If the Flood returns the galaxy would be doomed and we can't allow that to happen. Besides even though were doomed our empire will live on and rebuild even though we'll not be alive to see it." Yprin said sadly.

"If we use the Flood though well be around to help our remnants." Forthenco argued even though he knew if the flood returned they wouldn't be able to defeat it in their current state and there was no guarantee the Flood would leave them alone.

"No we shall accept defeat. However we have a constellation prize and it was thanks to our new Supreme Commander Achamoth." Yprin said even though most didn't know about the thing he did. The council turned to face Achamoth wondering what Yprin was talking about however he showed nothing because he stood head to toe in new battle armor.

Achamoth looked around and his eyes landed on Yprin who nodded and with that he spoke. "I gave a Forerunner the data we have on the Shaping Sickness. Or rather I gave her my memories of the parasite in hopes that should the Shaping Sickness return they will be able to finish the job we started. I didn't give them our cure though since I believe they can find one that doesn't require sacrificing 1/3 of our race."

Everyone was surprised but they knew it was for the best. The Shaping Sickness was only beaten temporally and they would return one day and they would contest the Forerunners for control of the galaxy. However one person was angry about this revelation since he wanted the Shaping Sickness to be a type of revenge.

"Now we must talk about the real matter why I called the council together." Yprin said even though she knew Achamoth would hate what she had in mind. "We know that our government must stay behind so that the Ecumene doesn't find our remnants but that doesn't mean we can't send someone who has recently been raised to a higher rank."

Seeing where this was going Achamoth slammed his fist down on the table drawing everyone's attention toward him. "I know where you're going with this Yprin and you can forget it. I have no intention of running away and leaving my fellow brethren to die while I hide in the shadows and rebuild."

"Achamoth you must understand when Charum Hakkor falls what remains will be leaderless and they will need a new leader who can rally them together. We must stay behind and accept our fate however you can go—"

"You don't seem to understand me Yprin. I have nothing left my family is gone and my friends now lay across various worlds. Besides I have decided that this will be where I die."

"Supreme Commander I must agree with Yprin. Without a strong centralized government our efforts will be in vain and our sacrifice here would have been for nothing if the survivors just fight amongst themselves." A San Shyuum said who had been quite until now. Achamoth thought this over and agreed with the fact that without a strong central government they would tear themselves apart. Even though this was against what he wanted he swore he would protect humanity and he couldn't do that as a corpse could he.

"Fine I'll go to the satellite galaxy but I have no intention of leading them. If I go I'll be a commander of what remains of our army." With that Yprin sighed in relief since he would go albeit on his own terms. Sure they sent multiple people who would form the new government but they would still need a strong centralized leader.

"I need to know how we are going to rebuild in the satellite galaxy. From what I know there are only two star systems and 7 planets all together. Sure we have the ability to build worlds thanks to you Yprin but how do you expect us to build an entire star system when the Forerunners themselves have yet to succeed."

"Recently we found something intriguing deep below Charum Hakkor. We believe it is something that has the power to create artificial star systems however we don't have time to study it. Instead when you leave you must take it with you and in time we hope you can use it and rebuild properly." Yprin said sadness in her voice since she wouldn't be there to study such a great find. At least she was leaving them with everything she had created.

"When do I leave?"

"In a week's time onboard a prototype star dreadnought. Currently it is 25 kilometers long however we hope in time you'll be able to finish it and hopefully it will be able to rival the Forerunner-Fortress Class warships." Forthenco said who had personally ordered the ship to be constructed.

Unlike the rest of the fleet the star dreadnought had Precursor Weapons, Engines, and Shields that they were able to activate. The ship was intended to be there flagship but since this was the end they would give everything they had left to their survivors. When the week passed Achamoth looked at Forthenco and an understanding passed between them. Forthenco was passing everything he had left to his _foster son _and now it was up to him to watch over there people and make sure they rebuild properly. Neither would admit but it pained them to know this would be the last time they see each other.

Achamoth stopped halfway up the ramp before he turned to face Yprin, and Forthenco. "Farewell mother and father it was an honor to have been your son." With those words he left never to see his foster parents again.

Finally after loading the Precursor artifact onto the dreadnought the ship lifted off followed by 40 prime cruisers and 10 first-rate tuned platforms. After leaving the atmosphere the fleet followed a pre-set course where the Forerunner Fleet had yet to blockade. They were then followed by ten 15 kilometer long San Shyuum warships that were taking what remained of their race that was able to get away.

Achamoth stood on the bridge looking out of the view port, watching as the remains of Charum Hakkor's navy fought against the numerically superior Forerunner Fleet. Even though they were in terrible shape they fought on with the purpose to keep their attention until his fleet escaped and reached the intergalactic void. Looking one last time Achamoth turned away and watched as his fleet entered slipspace never to return again.

**Aftermath of the Charum Hakkor Campaign**

Chant-to-Green was walking down the lines of defeated humans while serving as one of the guards for the Didact and his wife the Librarian. As she walked down the lines she looked around and saw the debris of battle all around. Ruins of human structures were everywhere but through the haze and smoke stood the untouchable Precursor constructs that the humans were able to use against them albeit to a small degree. Continuing her walk down the hundreds of thousands of survivors she looked for one human in general. No matter how many she examined she couldn't seem to find Achamoth. What she did notice was that all the humans shared one thing in common and it was they were exhausted of fighting and were waiting for their deaths.

Even though they were her enemies she felt that what they were doing was wrong in every way. From what she heard they were about to be composed and still her questions were unanswered. Why did they attack the Ecumene and what was the threat that Achamoth talked about. Then she remembered that he gave her his helmet and said that once Charum Hakkor fell she would get the answers she needed. _Once Charum Hakkor falls show the Didact and the Librarian_. 'Is it too much to hope that his helmet has the answers I seek' Chant thought. All of a sudden she watched as a Warrior-Servant next to her had his head blown off. Looking in the direction of where the shot came from they saw a boy no older than 15 holding a human rifle however his arms were shaking while the humans that were left looked at the teenager.

"Let my people go!" the boy shouted but it was obvious he was scared and he was only one person while hundreds of Warrior-Servants were surrounding him. The boy knew he was going to die but he remembered how every human here fought for his survival and it was now his turn. He grew up looking at the adults in awe and now it was his turn to save them.

"Give up boy you have no hope of survival. Besides your not even a warrior, your just a snot nosed brat that doesn't know his place." The Didact said however he was surprised that a boy had the guts to stand up to him and his warriors when he is badly outnumbered and outgunned. When the boy lowered his rifle, the Didact sighed in relief, but what he didn't know was that the boy had no intention of doing so and to prove his determination. He dropped to the ground and shot at another Forerunner blowing his entire right arm off.

Seeing no alternative the Didact extended his arm and the boys was lifted up in a constrain field. "Chant-to-Green execute the boy." He ordered while the humans looked away.

Chant looked at the boy and back at the Didact. Inside she was having a conflict within herself. She has killed hundreds of thousands of humans but never has she killed a human child before. Even though she was a Warrior-Servant at the moment she had no reason to stay, humanity was beaten and the war was now over. Now she wondered if she would be able to return to the Lifeworkers and that was where she was conflicted. Currently she was an honorary Warrior-Servant and her order was to kill the boy in front of her. However if she killed the boy then she would never be able to return to the Lifeworkers. If she disobeyed his order though then she would be known as a traitor and she might be punished.

As Chant was having an inner conflict with herself the Librarian watched her intently. She considered this a test for Chant to see if the Lifeworker she knew was still underneath that armor. If she was then she would invite her back but if she kills the boy then she wouldn't be allowed back. It was cruel to exile her but from what she learned from her husband Chant had killed hundreds of thousands of Humans and San Shyuum and as a Lifeworker you must respect all living things even if they are your enemies.

Before Chant could make her choice a human stood up. Everyone looked at who would be foolish enough to stand up and it was none other than the Lord of Admirals Forthenco. "Drop the boy Didact. If you execute the boy like this than it would be against your version of the mantle and you know it."

"You have no right to tell me what to do Forthenco." The Didact hissed while his voice was filled with venom. Chant meanwhile breathed a sigh of relief since she wouldn't have to kill the boy. The Librarian meanwhile looked at Chant and saw that she wasn't tense anymore.

"Didact look around you," Forthenco said sweeping his great arms around to every human that was still here. "Humanity is beaten and from the looks of it were about to be composed. What is the point of executing the boy when were all about to die anyway."

The Librarian then floated next to the Didact and whispered something into his ear. Begrudgingly he dropped his boy and turned around to face several Warrior-Servants and Lifeworkers. "Compose these humans immediately." With that he left without saying a word leaving Chant and the Librarian behind.

Chant looked at the Librarian trying to find the words to say but none would come out. Ever since the Human-Forerunner war started she hasn't talked to her since and before the Librarian was a type of mentor to her.

"Chant-to-Green, I can tell you have something you need to tell me is important so let's go talk on my keyship." Librarian then extended her hand for Chant to take. Without a second thought Chant took her hand and they were teleported to a prototype keyship that was hovering above the Giants Armory. Looking around Chant watched as the Librarian had seats made before she sat down on one of them.

With a wave of her hand Chant sat down on the other seat. At first Chant didn't know what to say but the Librarian spoke first. "Tell me Chant-to-Green with the Human-Forerunner War over. Will you continue in the Warrior-Servant rate or are you going to rejoin another rate."

"I… I want to become a Lifeworker again. I'll understand though if I can't since I was taught to respect all living and I went against your wishes by joining this war." Chant said sadly.

With a sigh the Librarian asked. "Chant before we discuss the possibility of you rejoining my rate I need to know what is eating you inside."

"Librarian as this war slowly came to an end I started to ask myself why the Humans would attack the Ecumene as recklessly as they did. The only answer I got was a mysterious threat they managed to push out of the galaxy. However a month ago a human gave me his helmet telling me that the answers to my questions were inside his helmet."

Librarian was now surprised. "Did you get the answers you were looking for?" If the human left her with the answers she needed then maybe it could answer some of her questions as well.

"That is another thing I need to tell you about. The human told me that the helmet would only give me answers once Charum Hakkor fell. However before I looked I had to show both you and your husband."

"Where exactly is the human's helmet?" a gruff voice said. The Didact was standing in the doorway to the room. At first he came to say sorry to his wife because of his behavior but now he was interested in the conversation beforehand. Chant looked at the Didact for a second before extending her right hand to the Librarian. Nothing happened at first but several seconds later a severely damaged helmet appeared in her hands.

The Didact walked over to her taking the helmet with his giant hands. It was obviously of human design however he saw nothing special about it. "Did the human say how it would 'answer' our questions?" the Didact said doubt obviously in his voice that something so small would be so important.

Chant nodded with a no looking at it one last time the Didact noticed something glowing inside. Instantly the helmet lit up filling the room with a golden light. When the light died the Didact looked at his hands and saw what was left of the helmet was dust. Also standing in front of the three Forerunners was a golden A.I. that looked like a San Shyuum.

"Hello my designation is FILSS and I am the ancilla of Shadow Paladin Ace aka. Achamoth." Looking around FILSS realized she was in a room with three Forerunners. "Oh I see the prerequisites for my awakening has been achieved well there is no time for introductions." Within a second FILSS took control of the ship and locked all Forerunners on board to the ground so that they don't try to interfere.

"Where are you taking us Ancilla?" The Didact demanded. This was a disgrace to him, this was his second time being captured and it was by an Ancilla of all things.

"My orders are to take you three underneath Charum Hakkor so that your questions will be answered." FILSS said before teleporting all the Forerunners on the ship to the bridge. They still couldn't move but at least they could see where they were going. The keyship was now floating over a human city that had recently been destroyed. It was a city called Skyline, that was known for its beauty. Now though the city was in ruins and bodies were everywhere. At first nothing happened but lights activated forming a giant X. The city then split slowly retracting revealing a giant underground structure. Everyone on board was shocked including the Didact who is rarely surprised by anything.

_No wonder why the Human armies made such a stiff resistance here. There was an underground structure all this time._ With that thought the Forerunners were teleported to the ground where they were facing FILSS again. FILSS didn't say anything and just stood there while a Precursor construct rose from the ground behind her. Since the artifact was undeniably large and rising Forerunner ships arrived to see what it was. Before any commanders could do anything the Didact ordered them to stand down since this was something they mustn't interfere with. Once the object finished reaching the surface every Forerunner noticed it looked like a palace of some sort.

"Welcome Forerunners to the Palace of Pain. Inside you shall the find the answers you seek however I must warn you… you might not come back with your sanity intact." FILSS warned while a psychotic smile formed on her face. Then a giant doorway swung open that was 15 meters tall and 13 meters wide. "Farewell Forerunners with this I hope you'll be able to defeat the Shaping Sickness once it returns." With that FILSS vanished leaving the Forerunners to wonder what the 'shaping sickness' was.

**After entering the Palace of Pain**

Chant-to-Green was outside on her knees crying for what she has done up to now. She couldn't believe what she saw inside that dreaded building. The Shaping Sickness is what drove humanity to attack the Ecumene because it escaped quarantine and they couldn't allow it to start conquering Forerunner worlds. Had they gone unchecked they would have spread beyond even there control with 6 months time. Then the Humans made the ultimate sacrifice and gave 1/3 of their population to the flood which finally drove them away.

At first she believed destroying humanity was the right thing but now she's realizing just how foolish that thought was. If it wasn't for humanities actions and there sacrifice the Flood would have spread even further and now she understood what Achamoth was talking about. They sacrificed themselves to save the galaxy and they repaid them by destroying everything they had left. Looking at her hands she could almost imagine the blood of all the Humans and San Shyuum she had killed. While Chant was in her state of depression the Librarian was floating over to her. She could see that Chant was now in a terrible mental state.

"Chant you asked me earlier if you could rejoin Lifeworkers—"

"Librarian… how can I possibly return to the past? The blood of hundreds of thousands is on my hands—" Chant cried cutting her off. Everything she had done to this point had been wrong and the very things she had learned as a Lifeworker were destroyed as she continued her crusade against humanity.

The Librarian floated to the front of Chant lifting her head up so that she was facing her. "Chant there is no reversing the past but humanity is entrusting us with everything they have on the flood. If you truly regret what you did then return to my rate. For a long time the Ecumene will be discussing the Flood and we can use someone like you."

**5,000 years after Human-Forerunner War  
Location: Unknown**

Achamoth was standing aboard the new flagship of his personal fleet as it exited slipspace while being escorted by 10 prime cruisers that had been upgraded and were now 25km long. After retreating into the void all the scientists got to work on finishing the prototype since it was meant to be the flagship of their broken empire. After dozens of years of studying and the limited resources available the ship was finished. At first it was discussed on whether they should scrap the whole thing and make brand new one. Of course arguing broke out since it was the only ship they had left that was over 20km and the main part of defense. The rest of the fleet was spread out constantly searching for any traces of the Flood that had escaped there destruction.

He then stepped forward and proposed an entirely brand new idea. Instead of scrapping the prototype they would just build a brand new one and once it was finished the weapons, engines, and shields would be moved to the new warship and that was what he was standing on now. Unlike the prototypes name Star Dreadnought this new class of ships were named Leviathans because of their behemoth size. They were 125km long and 40km at the widest point. Currently only 3 Leviathans existed in the ever rebuilding fleet, but they made up for it in there armament. All three of them were filled to the brim with weapons that if fully charged and fired continuously were capable of burning entire fleets.

Achamoth's Leviathan however was special compared to the rest. All of its weapons were the very same Precursor Weapons from the star dreadnought. Which meant that his ship was most likely the most powerful in the known galaxy. Unlike the people in charge though Achamoth knew that he wasn't arrogant enough to believe his ship could change the tide of a war, what changes a war is tactics and that was what he was looking for. Now both him and his fleet had traveled the furthest any fleet has gone and it was to the large magellanic cloud. What they found was shocking, an entire fleet that looked obviously Forerunner in origin sat lifeless in the black void. Still Achamoth didn't care for that. Instead they were heading to the planet that might very well hold the answers he needed and it was now christened as Path Kethona.

**9,050 years after Human-Forerunner War  
Location: Intergalactic Void  
Ship: Audacity**

Chant-to-Green was looking out of the viewport of the Audacity, ignoring her companions who seemed like arguing about their rates position was more important than the journey they were on. After learning about the Shaping Sickness she returned to the Lifeworker rate leaving the Warrior-Servants behind. The Didact of course was angry at her. He needed her support for his Shield World plans but none of those interested her anymore. As the millennium's passed her mind was always on why Achamoth had given the Ecumene the small amount of data they had on the flood. The only thing he didn't leave them was a cure, what they did know though was that they sacrificed 1/3 of there empire and somehow it drove them away.

Still everyday she wondered why he warned them when it could have been used as a type of revenge against them since the shaping sickness would undoubtedly return one day. Or rather they believed they would in time. As some of the Audacity's monitors left the ship to scan the dead fleet in front of her, Chant couldn't help but notice something that stood out in the fleet. Unlike the grotesque appearance of these ships a certain ship looked like one of those used by the Human-San Shyuum Alliance. It looked like a San Shyuum destroyer, but it was much larger than anyone she had noticed before.

'_What is one of their ships doing all the way out here?_' she thought and a part of her was wondering if maybe a fraction of their empire managed to escape the Fall of Charum Hakkor. After all out of all the survivors she had seen, Achamoth wasn't among them and he was probably one of the best humanity had to offer, so the question was did he survive and if so where are they?

Turning around Chant went to the person who had let her start over and return to this rate. "Librarian I must ask of you a favor." Chant asked bowing slightly.

"Chant if I know what you are thinking is true then you may go." The Librarian said, she also noticed the ship that was obviously San Shyuum in design along with small races of human tech near the front of the ship.

"Thank you I'll be back as soon as possible." Chant then went to the hanger bay that had a Despair-Class Fighter. Even though she was a Lifeworker again a part of her was still an honorary Warrior-Servant. Before she went on this journey she had asked a friend in the Warrior-Servant corps to let her borrow a fighter since there was a possibility they could run into the flood out here and the Audacity had no weapons to defend itself. Just looking at the fighter reminded her of everything she did almost 10,000 years ago and the pain that still afflicted her every day since then. Now though there was a possibility of meeting Achamoth again and if not then she would always feel this pain until her dying day.

**Audacity Bridge**

"Hey who brought a Despair-Class Fighter here?" Keeper demanded as he looked out the viewport. Turning to the others he noticed one of the Lifeworkers was missing and it was the one he wanted as his wife. Even though he knew close to nothing about Chant he heard she was the most beautiful Forerunner alive and that it made the Librarians beauty pale in comparison.

"Chant-to-Green has left on an important endeavor that is of the upmost importance." The Librarian said, honestly though the others didn't really care. "Now let's continue on towards that small planet we might get answers there, Chant will catch up to us after she is done doing what she needs."

**Warship Class: San Shyuum Destroyer  
Location: Hanger**

Getting out of her fighter Chant looked around the abandoned warship. Everything was ruined; cords were coming down from the roofs while several dozen fighters laid in piles that were destroyed. Looking back at her fighter she grabbed her Z-250 Directed Energy Engagement Weapon and floated towards the only passageway she could find. What she didn't know was that above her a flood combat form was crawling on top, looking down at a new source of food that had arrived.

"Ancilla can you lead me to the reactor room. We need to find a way to activate at the least the lights and artificial gravity." Chant asked floating down the hallway however she felt something wasn't right. From her years of experience fighting Humans, she learned that they never abandoned an entire ship. Instead the only thing that they would leave behind was melted hulls and ruins, but this ship was still mostly intact and was one she had seen in the human wars albeit rarely since the data they received after the war said this type of ship was a prototype and yet this one was finished and was larger than the old ones.

'_This ship is an old one but the reactor should still have the power to keep it running. When the next turn appears, make a left and continue.' _Chant nodded stopping and turning left however she stopped. Floating in the hallway was dozens of cold, lifeless bodies of dead Humans, San Shyuum's, and some rather grotesque bodies. Or rather their remains and armor was all that remained.

"Ancilla load yourself into the ship and find out what happened here. All these bodies are obviously the same as the ones that defended Charum Hakkor to the last man and woman." Chant demanded now slightly worried, floating through the remains Chant saw a rifle and grabbed it. Looking at it the ammo capacity was full while several clips of ammo floated by. '_So whoever had this rifle died before he could have used it effectively.'_

'_Command accepted, however I must warn Chant to be very cautious, and most of all be careful. I have scanned the ship and detected a couple life signs moving in on your location._' With that last warning the Ancilla vanished leaving Chant truly alone in the war ship. Spinning around to look at the bodies again she realized they looked exactly like that of those she saw in the Palace of Pain on Charum Hakkor.

'_The Shaping Sickness is onboard this ship._' Chant then looked around for any sign of movement if what she knew was true about the sickness she would need the ship activated. Putting the human rifle on her back she continued floating towards the Pinch Fusion Reactor that was currently infested with combat forms waiting and more were fast approaching. Floating to the door Chant tried to pry it open but wasn't surprised that the door wouldn't budge. Choosing the quicker alternative she aimed her rifle at the door and fired a continuous beam of hard light. Within seconds the door gave way and melted. Before she could lower her weapon Chant got pulled into the room by a strong vacuum, staring at the center of the room she noticed the large reactor sitting in the center of the room lifeless and abandoned.

Sensing something was very wrong, Chant looked around the large chamber and realized there was a large gaping hole on the other side of the room. Before she could notice what was making her senses tingle, a flood combat form jumped up tackling her. Since there was no gravity they were tumbling through the huge chamber while her light rifle was tossed away the moment the thing jumped on her. Getting a good look at the corpse, she knew if she didn't do something soon this thing would kill her and turn her into one of them. '_This is what they have been fighting' _looking at whatever could be the things face she found nothing but small little tentacles moving around. Seeing no alternative she activated her energy dagger and sent her fist into what she guessed was the things face. Expecting even a slight amount of resistance, her entire hand went through one end and out the other.

The combat form flailed in pain for a few seconds before it was motionless, signaling its death. Pushing the body away she looked at her hand and saw a dark green liquid dripping from her arm. It didn't seep through her armor, but something told her that if it did, she wouldn't like the feeling at all. Looking down she saw more combat forms standing looking at her, probably wondering what the best course of action was in order to take down their new victim. Realizing she still didn't have her light rifle anymore, Chant was nearly weaponless expect for her energy dagger and two hard light swords.

Currently though she was outnumbered by 20 and she was all alone. Realization dawned on her when she reached behind her and grabbed hold of the rifle she got in the hallway. It was hard to hold the rifle in her hands but at least she still had five fingers so it wasn't as difficult for say a Promethean who has six fingers.

The Flood looked at Chant realizing she had a new weapon they all jumped up at her determined to kill her like they did the humans on this vessel when they first arrived. With no time to figure how the weapon worked Chant placed one hand on the bottom of the rifle while another was by the handprint that was obviously a human hand print.

The rifle lit up instantly and without any time to react the gun fired a large beam of plasma at the flood, before it could make contact the plasma spread out forming a net catching several of them at once. The flood stopped looking at the burned remains of their allies. Screeching they continued there charge, determined to kill her and make another soldier for there leaders.

Taking her hand off the handprint the rifle stopped as if nothing changed. '_Humans have interesting weapons but at least they work in combating this abomination_.' Chant thought admiring how the weapon worked. Placing her hand again on the hand print the rifle lit up and burned even more flood forms however each time she did it the ammo continued to burn away leaving her with nothing. While only one flood form was left from the horde that had charged her. Looking at the reactor she knew it needed something to power it up but what? Currently she had an empty rifle, two hard light swords, and her light rifle was floating in the room somewhere. Tossing the rifle away, she grabbed her sword. Examining the blade in her hands she realized it was the very same one Achamoth's A.I. gave her in secret before she deleted herself.

'_This is the only thing I have left of him… but I can't use it instead—' _She placed the weapon back on her hip and pulled out her own. Examining her own blade one last time, she tossed it hoping that it would reach the center of the reactor. From what she remembered from memory, these reactors only require a power source whether it was big or little they would activate. Something like that always surprised her since these reactors were indeed inferior compared to Forerunner Engines but anything could activate them.

Bracing herself for when the reactor activated she stared at the combat form that jumped up towards her. Usually when the Pinch Fusion Reactors activated a blast of energy shoots out from the center and it was strong enough to blow everything away. Suddenly though the reactor activated on its own. The hard light sword vanished appearing on her belt again. Instantly a blast of energy shot out, blowing her away and sending her back into the hallway she came from.

Pulling herself up, she looked around for that combat form and saw that it wasn't sent flying with her thankfully. Everything then suddenly started to light up that wasn't completely destroyed. The hallways lit up and the gravity turned on but that was basically it. Everything else was beyond repair because of the thousands of years the ship sat in space. Dead and lifeless, along with the damage the ship took from a battle.

'_Artificial life forms detected, activating defense systems to purge the ship._' A voice said as Chant stared at the dozens of holes that opened in the wall. She saw small drones start to come out of the walls and burn the remains of the flood forms away. The only things left behind was the weapons and armor of various individuals that died fighting them to a stand still.

Having nowhere to go Chant just stood there until her Ancilla came back all of a sudden. Not expecting it to rush to her armor so suddenly she staggered a little as the Ancilla shouted in her head. '_Chant-to-Green we must leave the ship, the voice you heard is going to self-destruct the ship and soon!'_ Not wanting to take chances Chant ran down the hallways, the only sound was that of her heeled boots slamming against the floor. When the ship suddenly shook she reached the hanger bay. Jumping into her fighter it activated instantaneously and she got out at the last second. The warship split in half before it got engulfed by a slipspace fissure leaving almost nothing behind like usual.

Catching her breath slightly Chant took her helmet off reveling long silver hair and her eyes reflected the same color of her hair. In almost every way she looked human but she had the slits for noses like all Forerunners did. Staring at his master, the ancilla wondered why she never reveled herself more. Her beauty was unparalleled and the Librarian couldn't hope to match her but, then again he knew Chant never showed herself because of her uncanny appearance to that of humans. Also unlike most Forerunners that had old appearances. She was extremely youthful for one her age, he was transferred to her almost 200 years ago but from what he learned in there time together she wore her armor most if not all the time. Only on rare occasions was it taken off, but she also only did when others weren't around.

"Tell me Ancilla what you found in the warship." Chant asked looking at empty space that the ship had occupied earlier. Like most human ships almost nothing remained. The only traces left were small pieces of its hulls that floated away from the empty space..

"Chant put your helmet back on and I'll show you. I have a feeling if I show you; you'll believe what I saw."

Chant looked down at her helmet again, and for a second she imagined the warrior-servant helmet she used to wear. Remembering all the times she fought humans behind that helmet and slaughtering them, until the day she finally met Achamoth for the first time. Now almost 10,000 years later, she had a lifeworker helmet in her hands. Unlike the menacing helmets that Prometheans had, these helmets were in a way beautiful. Curves ran up and down the helmet while at the same time keeping the normal shape that most helmets had. Remembering that this wasn't the time to think about her helmet. What she really needed more than anything now was answers.

Sighing in sadness, she placed the helmet back on before getting sucked into the memories her ancilla had. Looking around Chant realized she wasn't in her fighter anymore, instead she was onboard the bridge of a ship that had Humans and San Shyuum moving around. In the center of the room sat a large hologram showing a multitude of ships fighting one another, while on the other end of it sat a ship that dwarfed the rest of the holographic ships. Staring out of the viewport she saw a colossus warship filled to the brim with the weapons and she realized it was the very same ship in the hologram.

'_That ship is apparently a flagship for them now. Currently the ship is 125km long filled with weapons that appear to be Precursor in origin. While the rest are human and san shyuum in design._' the Ancilla said as it watched the memory alongside her. On the other side of the viewport she saw the other ships in the hologram trading fire with one another. Small explosions went off in the center of the fleets, whatever was going on out there, showed her that humanity was still capable of putting up a fight, but she wondered why the colossal warship wasn't in the battle. Could it have been damaged before the battle?

"Why is the flagship not in the battle?" she asked.

'_From the data I received from this ships remaining databanks the fleet was split because a large flood fleet jumped in out of nowhere catching them off guard. As soon as the flood was within range of their weapons the fleet was ordered to split in half. The half out there fought them, while this half of the fleet headed to the planet that the Lifeshaper, and your companions are currently heading to. Apparently the planet was named Path Kethona when they got here._

Before Chant could say anything else the ship shook thanks to something incredibly large slamming into the left side of the warship. The walls lit up and alarms went off. "All troops get down to decks A-C, the flood has breached the hulls I repeat the flood has breached the hulls… aaagh." A voice screamed. The captain on the bridge nodded as several troops left their posts grabbing their weapons and leaving the bridge. The hallway to the bridge opened up revealing dozens of soldiers who were ready to fight and awaiting instruction.

'_You already know what happened to this majestic warship. They fight valiantly but the Flood is too much for them to take on. It will spread beyond their defenses and take control of everything. Only by sending the ship on a crash course do the men and women on board make sure that the flood cant harm the flagship._'

Just hearing that made her fell a deep pain in her chest. When she fought the humans at the beginning, they sacrificed one another to try and defeat her and only now did she why they did it. Humans were used to dying and if they died knowing that they tried, it was well worth it. The men left on on the bridge however told an entirely different story. The ones who didn't have helmets had grim faces. She then realized this is what the Humans and San Shyuum looked like when they fought the Flood, yet when they faced the Ecumene they steeled themselves for the battle that was to come.

"Ancilla end the memory I've seen enough." Chant said finally. After a second the memory ended and Chant found herself in her fighter again. Leaning back she took her helmet off and looked around noticing the remains of the battle not seen before. It was hard to make anything out, but from what she could see, about a dozen or so warships fought in that area. But her desire for answers continued to weigh on her mind.

"I need to know how old was that fleet? And who led them in that giant flagship of theirs." Waiting for the answer, was agonizing. She needed to know if that fleet was around here earlier and if so was Achamoth with them.

'_Chant you must realize that what I'm about to tell you is faulty at best since Charum Hakkor fell nearly 10,000 years ago along with the remains of the Human-San Shyuum Alliance. However that fleet... was here no less than exactly 4,050 years ago.'_

Chant was to say the least shocked since she was certain that what remained of humanities interstellar empire was destroyed during the Charum Hakkor Campaign that cost the Ecumene billions of lives. When the capital finally fell, the parts of humanity that wasn't composed were exiled on Edre-Tyrene while the San Shyuum were quarantined to there home world. In a way the fall of the alliance was there fault, yet humans were the ones who suffered the most and only after she left, did she realize how unfair their punishment was.

"So are you saying some remnants of the Human Empire survived and a fleet arrived here no less than 4,000 years ago," not getting an answer she decided to ask her last question? "Tell me who commanded the fleet that arrived here, and do you know what they were looking for?"

'_The commanding officer was indeed the Shadow Paladin Achamoth, and from what I gathered he led his fleet here looking for answers about the Flood and where they came from.'_

Hearing that Achamoth was alive meant that he was out here in uncharted space. Now if only she could find him, "Do you know where the fleet came from?"

'_No that data was purged before the ship was abandoned. All I know for certain is the fleet survived this battle and got what they wanted before they vanished. Another is that the Humans are out there with the San Shyuum building in the Ecumene's shadow safely while at the same time looking for the Floods origin. Which means that our journey is a failure and that it was best that we leave immediately._'

"No it's not a failure, not yet anyways." she wanted to sound upbeat but if the humans didn't find an answer, what chance did they have. "If we find what they found then we might guess where they went and if we do we can find them."

'_Even if we do find him, you must realize we can't tell anyone about this. If we did we can't guarantee they wouldn't tell the council and if they did the council would focus everything on crushing them once and for all._' the ancilla warned.

"If you say it like that then why haven't you sent this info to the council?"

'_I can tell that ever since I've been assigned to you, you have been seeking answers to why the humans did what they did. Also I can see the human you want to meet is none other than Achamoth since the two of you share a connection that has never been seen before. One human and one Forerunner, I can tell that if you meet him again, it shall be one interesting meeting._'

Chant didn't know it but her Ancilla knew her better than even herself. From the way Chant always thought of Achamoth it was safe to assume she developed a small amount of feelings for the human even if the only reason at the moment was for answers.

"When this journey is over we must find out where they are?" she said and the ancilla agreed, with that Chant placed her helmet back on before heading to the Audacity that was floating above Path Kethona. While the Ancilla was leading the fighter back to the Audacities hanger it also played a particular message again that Chant didn't hear yet.

'_If you are receiving this message then I'm guessing you arrived here looking for answers on the Flood's whereabouts. I won't say what we found but when you learn what we did it will shock you to your core. Currently we will focus on rebuilding but when the Flood returns I will arrive to help even if you are our ancient enemies. I don't know if you are hearing this Honorary Warrior-Servant Chant-to-Green, but if you are I will answer the questions you most likely have for me. Now Ancilla set the self-destruct system and leave the ship it is a graveyard and is something that the living shouldn't be treading on. When the time is right return to Charum Hakkor I will be waiting for you there and then I shall take you to Silentium.'_

The prospect of Humans, San Shyuum, and Forerunners working together was an interesting prospect to the Ancilla. Currently though it would keep the message a secret at least until this journey was over and when it was, it would take her to the Humans new capital named Silentium. He didn't have much data about the capital, but het pictures that the human left him were very intriguing.

**9,200 years after Human-Forerunner War  
Location: Human-San Shyuum Capital Silentium**

Currently the new Capital was 4 artificial planets, that were 75,000km(46,602 miles) in diameter each. Each planet was connected by large bridges making a giant baseball field while the planets were the bases. Each bridge was 10,000km in width, and made from the strongest material they could possibly forge, so that the planets could be connected to one another without breaking the bridges themselves. Also each planet had a large metallic ring that surrounded them from the North Pole to the South. There purpose was to put up a defensive barrier should the Capital ever be assaulted. The shields were capable of holding out against even the largest of fleets, but it was only to be used during the most of extreme situations.

Besides the planets defensive shields each bridge had 10 Orbital Defense Platforms and 7 energy towers like those that protected Charum Hakkor. In front of each of the individual planets were also 5 Leviathans and 30 Prime Cruisers supported by 15 Destroyers that were still San Shyuum in design. All in all Silentium was protected by 200 ships and 40 ODP's and 28 energy towers at all times. In reserve the planets also had several "personal" fleets ready to back up the fleets in space should they need reinforcement.

While on the surface of the planets was nothing but cities. Each city reached up to the sky and had hundreds of anti-air defenses ready to shoot anything down at a moment's notice. There range was second to those of the ODP's but they shared the same destructive power. The available military personal was one billion strong, but since no one planet could support such a large military force, it was split into 250,000,000 each.

In the center of each bridge was another bridge that each lead to the council chambers that rested in the center of the planets. It was a diamond 50,000km in diameter. Inside the diamond were multiple rings for all the council members. The Council had currently 40,000 individuals two representing one planet. A human and a san shyuum even though it seemed like the two could be corrupt each was represented by the people of their planets and before they came to meetings they were scanned. The scans purpose was to look into the person's brain since when a person has corrupt intents or were bribed a specific fluid could be seen on the brain and if caught you were eliminated from any meetings and forced into exile.

These types of situations were rare and few though and has only happened twice since the formation of the Capital 4,000 years ago. Overall the new government was an improved version of the one that originally ruled but after a time it was realized the government couldn't be trusted and this one was formed shortly after. The council was called today however because one of the three top leaders had called everyone together was a very important meeting and now everyone was waiting for the arrival of none other than Achamoth Knifong.

Currently Achamoth was standing aboard his Leviathan as it exited slipspace with his fleet. Currently his fleet numbered 75 strong. It might seem small for a fleet but his was currently the largest out of all the fleets except for those that defended the Capital. While currently the overall fleet for the empire was only 500,000 strong. Most defended the planets while the rest moved around from place to place watching over the slipspace lanes making sure nothing arrived.

At his command his fleet stopped outside of range of the ODP's, while his Leviathan continued on its course. As his ship approached the capital one of its many defenses came on. Dozens of large holographic rings appeared while two destroyers were on the sides ready to fire. The rings purpose was to scan the ship for any traces of Flood biomass and if there was even the smallest amount, the destroyers were ordered to fire on the ship. No matter who it was, showing that none of them were going to be spared, the protection of the capital came first and everything else could be abandoned.

Unlike most destroyers the weapons on these ones were special. They weren't meant to tear through the hulls of ships, damaging a ship that was annoying to replace. Instead they would pass through the ships layers of shields and metals, burning any flood spores cleansing the ship. After passing through the final ring the citadel defense fleet split leaving a clear path between two of the ODP's. The Leviathan continued on its present course just stopping slightly in front of the western bridge.

The bridges that connected the ODP's to the main one then extended several docking platforms that connected to several spots on the ship. Leaving his post, he took one of the teleporter's on the bridge to a docking platform. Achamoth took a step into one of the Gondolas, followed by his very special guest. The Gondola then shot him down to the main bridge, that would then take him to the council chambers, where he would be refitted since armor wasn't something the council liked. Especially when one of the big three wore armor and the other two had specially designed robes.

No matter how many times Achamoth came to the Capital he was surprised by the sheer genius of its design and defense. Unlike Charum Hakkor that sat at the end of their empire this new Capital instead sat in the center. The reason was that Silentium was surrounded by planets on all ends while during their time in solitude they learned how to clog slipspace tunnels like the Didact.

Even though the Capitals defense was impressive the true defense was the planets and fleets that sat in front of any attacking force. If the Flood or Forerunners were to attack again they would have to break through hundreds of star systems along with thousands of planets and fleets before they'd ever reach this point. However they knew they wouldn't stand a chance if the Forerunners brought the full force of their empire down on them. However there was a secret slipspace lane where any ship could take it and jump right to the capital, but that route was kept secret and only the most trusted of individuals knew of it.

Forgetting where he was Achamoth took another gondola leading to the Council chambers. As he was moving down the chambers it came to a sudden and abrupt stop in front of a multitude of teleporter rings. Several small drones came out of the walls, surrounding Achamoth in what his guest thought was hundreds of small little flies. The drones formed a circle around his head before suddenly speeding up and going to his feet. Achamoth always hated this when he came to council meets. He was used to wearing the black armor of Shadow Paladins all the time and he could wear casual clothes when he was on leave but they were black like usual. However what he couldn't stand was the council attire he had to wear.

It was a form fitting suit that gripped his body leaving nothing to imagination. Unlike his normal black colors. The suit was silver with green highlights while on the chest was his rank and commanding position along with the various medals he had been awarded. Even though he was a commanding officer in the fleet he never wore these outfits because unlike most commanders he was willing to fight on the front lines at any time. Also he liked to think of his position as a memento of Forthenco then anything else.

Once the outfit was done his facial features were checked. Like usual though there was nothing to change since he looked like he was 24 but he nearly 10,000 years old. His hair was straightened, and like all soldiers in the military it reached down to his shoulders. After some last touches Achamoth sighed. Sometimes he wished he wasn't a part of the council but at least he didn't have to show up to every meet. Instead it was those that were of the upmost importance.

Once his outfit was completed he stepped forward and stood up tall in front of the teleporter rings. They suddenly shot up from the floor teleporting him into the center of the Council Chambers. His very special guest was left behind, but he made sure that she would appear very soon. Looking around he saw the Political Commander Calypso and the Lord of Admirals Scranton. While Achamoth's official title was Supreme Commander he hoped that when the time came he would pass the title and rank to someone else that deserved it more than himself.

"Supreme Commander Achamoth you finally arrived." Calypso said in neutral tone.

Ever since the new council was formed she had been trying to get him to show up more often but no matter how many times she tried it wouldn't work. Instead the only way for him to arrive was for the whole council to agree in his summoning since he was in charge of half their entire defensive fleet and had the most powerful ship in their fleet.

Scranton meanwhile hated how Achamoth rarely showed up. He was a commanding officer yet he didn't treat his post in high regard instead he showed up when he felt like it. If he had the power he would kick Achamoth out of the Council however the only thing stopping him were the senior council members that knew him personally. While currently there numbers were 47% of the council the other 43% didn't care since he was widely respected by everyone. If he had to find someone to dislike him though, it would be nearly impossible to find one. After all, Achamoth was known to visit many children in the empire and play with them since he was one himself.

"Calypso it is my pleasure to serve you." he then did a slight bow. "Now I hate to rush these meetings, but I am needed elsewhere. So please tell me why have I been called here on this day?"

"I called you here because we must discuss the mobilization of our armies. Also we must discuss on continuing the mass production of our armies and fleets." Scranton said in a tone that told Achamoth that he was angry.

"Then please do tell," Achamoth said with a hand gesture. "Why are you ordering the fleets I command to start mobilization when you have your half of the fleet. I will agree though that we need more ships and manpower since the shaping sickness will return one say and we must be ready."

"That is why I am ordering the mobilization of your fleets Achamoth." Scranton argued back, Achamoth was known to play mind games and he would counter him before it even started. "I am planning to lead an assault straight to the Forerunners Capital. With your fleet by my side I... I mean we can burn a path straight through to the center of their empire and retake our ancestral home."

Achamoth just nodded hearing one of the doors open allowing his guest to enter the council chambers while a hard light bridge extended towards there platform.

"If you are foolish enough to believe you can burn a path through to the capital of the Forerunners Ecumene then you're an idiot and a disgrace to the men that have held the title Lord of Admirals. Despite only hearing you for a few seconds I can also tell you are a disgrace to the person whom all Warrior-Servants have a respect for, albeit grudgingly." a feminine voice said walking out of the darkness. Every Councilor got up looking at who was walking to the center and everyone was shocked to see that is was none other than Chant-to-Green.

**A/N: This isn't an update, I just edited the chapter here and there, anyways see you all later.**** Hard Light swords are not light sabers in any way. Instead they are similar to… energy swords but they look more like our own medieval swords. Jaegers only appear once because they got scrapped and were overshadowed by the Leviathans. **


	2. Return of Humanity

**Halo Return of Civilizations**

**Okay everyone I am sorry to say this but this will be my last chapter. Anyways see you all at the bottom and I hope you like my last bit of this story. If you all hate me I understand but please read until the very End. I hope you all like it and I'll see you all well never.**

**Even though it is the last this chapter is really meant to dive into the history of Achamoth a little or aka. Ace. When you read there might be errors here and there and the grammar might be bad but I have read and re-read this chapter about a dozen times adding things and changing things.**

**I am sorry the one reviewer that wanted me to have Chant explains the human ships but that was taken out at the last second so that I could keep my 10,000 word limit.**

**Those of you that have read the preview I posted earlier will also see that most of it didn't change instead I just added parts here and there well that's it see you all later.**

**Chapter 2 Return of Humanity**

"If you are foolish enough to believe you can burn a path through to the capital of the Forerunners Ecumene then you are an idiot Lord of Admirals and you are a disgrace to the person whom all Warrior-Servants have a respect to." a feminine voice said walking out of the darkness while a bridge formed leading to the center of the chamber. Every Councilor got up looking at who was walking to the center and everyone was shocked to see that is was none other than Chant-to-Green.

"What is a Forerunner doing here?" Scranton shouted while Achamoth stood there sighing since he was expecting this for some time now. Calypso looked at him and saw he wasn't shocked like Scranton in the slightest so did this mean he had this planned before hand.

Instantly guard's teleported into the chamber rifles in hand all aimed at Chant causing her to stop. "As Supreme Commander of our combined forces I am ordering you to stand down and end hostilities at once." The guards looked at each other and back at their commander. Slowly they lowered their weapons and in a show of good faith Chant also removed all her weapons handing them to the soldiers.

"Achamoth what is the meaning of this have you betrayed us!" Scranton shouted while the council members looked at each other wondering if Scranton had gone slightly insane since Achamoth was by far the most trusted soldier and he most likely had a reason for bringing a Forerunner here of all places.

"Lord of Admirals before I left Charum Hakkor I promised both Forthenco and Yprin that I would protect our Empire until my dying breath." Some Councilor members nodded since they were there and watched as he said farewell to his foster family.

"Then tell me Supreme Commander," Scranton spat out the last words before continuing. "Why have you brought a Forerunner here? For all we know the Ecumene is bearing down on our location this instant. Guards leave now and prepare our planets defenses immediately." Like the last order the guards looked at each other having a mental conversation before agreeing that only half of them should go while the rest will stay and follow Achamoth.

"Lord of Admirals Scranton I am the—"

"You have no voice here Forerunner," Scranton spat as he looked her. "If Achamoth didn't order the guards to step down I would have you shot on the spot."

"I guess it is a good thing then that Achamoth ordered them to step down. Now this a first time a Forerunner has appeared before our council and Achamoth brought her here personally with his fleet. I'm sure there must be a reason, am I right?" Calypso asked looking Achamoth straight in the face. His only response was a nod of the head.

"Calypso, have you lost your mind! She is a Forerunner and for all we know she will lead the Didact and his forces right to us." Before he could say anything more Scranton felt himself getting lifted into the air by a constraint field. Looking for the cause of it he saw it was none other than Chant herself.

The guards weren't sure what to do so they looked to Achamoth who raised his hand and they knew to stand down. The council members were all watching with various expressions some were scared at the prospect of a Forerunner being here. Others had hatred since they recognized Chant as the one who led assaults during the Forerunner-Human Wars. While the rest were wondering how this would turn out.

"Lord of Admirals I am the only Forerunner that knows of this location," Chant said in a calm tone. "You can believe what you want but the reason I came here was I need answers to questions that I've been asking myself since the end of our war."

"I will never answer your questions." Scranton said however he didn't notice that he was currently dangling above the pit and if Chant dropped him his life would end.

"I don't need you. There are about 10,000 other people who would probably answer my questions." With that Chant dropped Scranton back onto the platform before taking her place next to Achamoth. Scranton got up rubbing his robes while muttering curses directed at Chant.

"Well anyways this has been an interesting development. First we hear about an assault against the Forerunner's Ecumene and then a Forerunner appears right before us. What's next will the Precursors arrive as well?" A councilor joked as he looked around at some friends who laughed with him. None of them realized though that they were the only ones laughing.

"It would be best that the Precursors never return.". Most of the Councilors looked at him as if he was crazy but those that were senior councilors knew what he knew and agreed it was best that the Precursors never return since they were terrible rulers.

"Anyways back to the main topic. Why has the Forerunner Chant-to-Green appeared before our council?" Scranton said before ordering a drink. Seconds later a small drone appeared with a glass and handed it to him before vanishing.

Looking around Chant saw everyone's face was on her. Struggling to say something she felt Achamoth put a hand on her shoulder, looking at him she felt glad to know she had someone like him by her side. Even though they started as enemies the years they spent together brought them to an understanding of one another.

"I came to see if you would help the Ecumene once the Flood returns. From what you left behind we gathered the Flood will return one day and ever since the Ecumene's main focus has been on the resurgence of them." No one spoke for a second before a laugh broke through the silence.

"Hahahaha you must be pulling my leg Forerunner. Do you truly expect us to help you when you and your whole empire destroyed us remember. We only have what we got now because we ran to the shadows during the war and now that you are here we are at risk again of being attacked and finished off this time." Scranton said while the council members started talking with each other.

"Scranton even you must realize once the Flood returns the Ecumene will need aid. There version of the mantle will curtail them while we can destroy them."

"Achamoth if it weren't for your rank in this council I would have you killed. Besides even if we did help them what would stop them from attacking us? We barely survived the flood and it required 1/3 of our population to beat them back and from what you learned in your journey our sacrifice was for naught."

"I will freely admit the cure we developed for the Flood was a failure. Instead I learned the flood can infect whatever they want and that they only spared us since they knew the Forerunners would keep some survivors even if they were exiled to Erde-Tyrene."

"Wait the cure you developed was a failure?" Chant asked. Even after spending a few years together she never knew that the cure was a failure of all things.

"The cure isn't a failure per say. Instead the cure never had any real affect against the flood, they instead choose to run away once our war began and we sacrificed our people for nothing." Realizing this many old councilors looked shocked however it couldn't be seen.

"If the cure didn't beat the flood then what can?" a San Shyuum shouted as he stood up.

"Yah if the flood returns then what do we do? During the first war we lost thousands of worlds and it required the Forerunners to finally attack us before it drove them away." Another said.

"To be honest I don't know what we will do. Currently we are in hiding so the Flood probably won't aim for us first," many councilors sighed hearing this. "However the Ecumene is a giant food source for them and if the Flood spread uncontrollably through their 3 million worlds we will be assaulted next by an even larger force."

"And yet you haven't given us a reason to fight alongside the Forerunners. I can say for many council members here that they would rather die than fight alongside their enemies." Scranton argued as he took a sip out his purple colored drink.

Chant meanwhile was appalled by Scranton and his views. However she had to agree with him the chances of the Ecumene and this Empire working together was slim to none since they had bad history. Then again she was able to work alongside Achamoth and his crew so was it a stretch to believe the rest could do the same.

Achamoth then stepped forward. "Everyone I know this might be hard to believe but the Humans and Forerunners are a kindred race. The Precursors created both of us making us brothers in a way. I believe that had things been different we might have been able to live in peace with one another—"

"Achamoth you must have some screws loose. Humans and Forerunners being a kindred race as if. I can believe we were both created by the Precursors but us being brothers is a joke." Scranton said laughing while many councilors agreed with his statement. However most only did because no one has seen what a Forerunner looks like underneath there armor. They were obviously humanoid in shape though standing over most humans.

Now thinking about that the council members looked at Chant and realized she stood two feet over most of the humans in the room. The only one that stood equal to her was Achamoth but that was mainly because of the augmentations he received as a kid so that he could match Warrior-Servants.

Chant meanwhile realized that the best way to convince this council of Achamoth's claim was to reveal herself. However she couldn't speak for all Forerunners though since she was just one individual. Agreeing with her Ancilla her armor pulled away and fell into a small compact egg.

Seeing Chant without her armor shocked many people. Several camera drones came out taking pictures of her and showing them all around the capital. She looked like most human females only difference was she had slits for noses and she had long silver hair that cascaded down her back.

Shortly after taking her armor off Chant felt small hairs on her arms rise as if they were sensitive to everything around her. She realized she had been wearing the armor for far to long and now her body was sensitive to everything around it.

"Well this most definitely is a surprise; however this isn't enough of a reason for us to fight alongside the Ecumene." Scranton said while his eyes told a different story. Even though he hated Forerunners he never expected them to look almost similar to them.

"Scranton even if the Forerunners attack us we must guarantee the flood never returns—"

"Achamoth we must first think about our people. Should the flood return we might be able to stop them but then again we might die as well," Calypso said before walking into the center of the platform. "Everyone we have a lot to think about and that is why I suggest we end this meeting and talk about this later." Hearing this many councilors agreed.

"But—" Chant was about to say however she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Turning around she looked into Achamoth's gold eyes. All he did was nod his head no telling her that this was a battle she couldn't win. Looking at the many council members she nodded and in a heartbeat her armor jumped up and wrapped around her.

"Calypso, Scranton if this is all I will be taking my leave." Before they could respond Achamoth teleported out of the council chambers with Chant and appeared in the hallway again. Chant stood there watching as Achamoth extended his arms out while the drones put his armor back on.

"That meeting could have gone better but it looks like it shall take some time before they start to mobilize our forces." Achamoth said suddenly as his helmet was put back into place with a hiss.

"Tell me Achamoth do you truly believe our two empires combined forces will be enough to stop the flood." Chant asked as they entered a gondola that was taking him back to his warship. Achamoth didn't respond instead he looked to his right looking out the windows watching the stars and wondering how many worlds would die once the flood returns.

"Honestly Chant I don't know. Currently we only have 500,000 vessels for war however 250,000 are guarding our planets. The rest are meanwhile split between Scranton and I. However I can't move my half of our fleet since I need the approval of the council."

"That was not what I was asking," Chant said as she grabbed his arm. "Tell me honestly do you believe the flood will win this time around should they return." Turning around to face her Achamoth's helmet receded revealing his face again. Before she could react he placed a hand onto her face. Chant meanwhile was surprised her helmet came off on its own accord and she silently cursed her ancilla for doing this since it was the only explanation.

"If what that old Forerunner said was true on Path Kethona then I believe we are doomed. The Precursors remains mutating into the Flood is a cruel joke. However if it is true then it is only a matter of time before all the Precursor artifacts start to activate around the galaxy and they will be used against us." Chant meanwhile thought over what he said and agreed that nothing in the known galaxy could destroy Precursor constructs other than the halo array that was still under construction and the Leviathans.

Placing a soft hand on Achamoth's cheek Chant looked him straight in the eyes not noticing the gondola had stopped. "Achamoth even if those artifacts started up couldn't your Leviathans tear them apart?"

"In theory yes but we have never tried. Besides I think the only ship that can truly damage them is mine since every weapon and shield is of Precursor Origin." Before Achamoth could say anything else he felt a soft pair of lips touch his however it was only for a brief second before she pulled away.

"At least you have something that might work." Chant said however the time she spent with him told her that he disagreed with her statement. Before he said anything he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the last gondola that was heading to his ship.

"Chant you must remember that one ship won't change the tide of a war. I will admit my ship is most likely the most powerful in the known galaxy the only difference is that Precursor artifacts range in many different shapes and ways. Some are monstrous while others are small but all share a destructive power."

"You talk as if you had seen Precursor weapons in action?" Chant said before looking into his face, realization dawned on her. "Have you really seen the capabilities of their weapons?"

Looking down Achamoth remembered the day he led an assault on his home world to take it back. Originally it was going to be an easy battle but shortly after arriving in system command realized the Flood had activated various Precursor weapons that tore them apart. A battle that was supposed to be a quick and decisive victory became 5 years of hell.

"I have, it was before the Forerunner-Human Wars. When I was 25 I was put in charge of my own personal fleet. Our orders were to take a planet that had been under flood control for far too long. When my fleet arrived we were engaged with a massive flood force. After several months we finally broke through the blockade and landed on the planet however that proved to be a disaster." Achamoth then looked away and started to recall those memories.

"What happened?" Chant asked as she looked at Achamoth. She then noticed that all the strength he had was now gone and his face had darkened. Before she could say anything he shot up grabbing both of her hands. "It would be better if I show you." Before she could respond both were teleported into his personal chambers.

Looking around Chant saw several orbs on the wall. Some were large while others were small. Walking over to one she saw scenes moving at a rapid pace that were far too quick for her to understand. "Achamoth what are these?"

"My memories and the farthest they go back to is the Human-Flood Wars." He then walked over to the one orb that looked different from the rest. While most of the orbs were blue he grabbed one that was black and gold. Grabbing hold of it he walked over to Chant and extended the orb to her. "Place your hand on the top of it and you shall see my memories of that battle."

Without hesitation Chant placed her hand on the orb and felt that it was as warm as her hand. Also she could have sworn a heartbeat was coming from it. Before anything else she was sucked into the orb while Achamoth stood beside her.

Looking around Chant saw she was standing space around a planet and all around her two massive fleets were engaged with one another. From what she could tell the ships defending the planet was flood and the fleet attacking was human. Honestly a part of her was amazed by how large the human fleet was since during the Forerunner-Human Wars the humans never used a fleet these large against us.

"My entire fleet was a combination of hundreds of different fleets put under my command and a few others by our Lord of Admirals Forthenco. This fleet was by far the largest we ever mustered for one attack. In all we had 1 million ships while the flood had close to 2 million."

"One million ships for one assault," Chant asked in disbelief before turning to face Achamoth. "If you had such a large fleet then why didn't you use it against us." Achamoth didn't reply instead he pointed behind her.

Turning around to watch the titanic battle gold and black lasers were shot back and forth tearing away at each other fleet. Some ships were right next to one another and traded fire but from what Chant could see the flood ships were firing what appeared to be pods onto the human ships. Human and san shyuum fighters also continued to fly back and forth trying to break the blockade that stayed in front of them.

Suddenly though a beam shot up from the planet and it went to the center of the human fleet. Chant watched as the beam started to become a sphere in the center before it exploded and engulfed dozens of ships that were within the blast radius. Since dozens of ships got destroyed the entire planet and the fleets were completely absorbed in a golden white light.

At first it was hard to see but after some blinking Chant realized she wasn't in space anymore instead she was standing in what appeared to be a city. However unlike most cities this one was covered in flood biomass. Turning around to the sounds of boots hitting the ground she saw 12 humans and 10 san shyuum running down towards her direction.

Despite this being a memory she reached for her weapon but found nothing there. Achamoth meanwhile stood there not moving instead looking at the trooper in the back of the group who had been a good friend of his. Instantly a bolt shot through said soldier and ripped his body in half.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" the memory Achamoth shouted as he turned around to see his friend fall dead before he hit the ground. Charging the flood combat form he didn't care if he died instead all he wanted was to kill the abomination that had taken his friend. Chant meanwhile felt sadness in her heart since this was what Achamoth had gone through doing the war.

Before memory Achamoth could reach the combat form another soldier grabbed his arm pulling him back. "Let me go damn it I can't let Samuel's death be in vain!" Achamoth cried as he looked at the flood form that took a part of Samuels deceased body and jumped up out of his reach.

"Achamoth we have no time for revenge. If you want to honor his death then we must take down that weapon." The soldier said who also viewed Samuel as a brother. Out of everyone he was probably the most effected by Samuels's death since they knew each other as toddlers.

Memory Achamoth looked like he wanted to argue but he sighed. Even though he wanted revenge they had to take down the Precursor weapon that was preventing the fleet from entering orbit. Taking his arm back he nodded and the group continued their march to the center of the city. Chant turned to face Achamoth and saw his helmet was on again completely covering his head.

'_He is in pain currently. Achamoth is reliving memories of his past and he is trying to hide behind his armor so that you won't notice the pain and sadness inside his heart._'Chants ancilla said all of sudden.

"If it is so painful why doesn't he end it?"

'_It won't end until you see everything he has. Never before have we seen Precursor weapons and now we can see what they can do. Besides after this he is planning to return you to the Ecumene since he needs time to prepare his armies for war._' Hearing that Chant couldn't help but agree since this was something Forerunners have never seen before.

Looking back at the memory it shifted and now she saw hundreds of thousands of humans and san shyuum pushing against the flood forces that had formed up in what she could guess was the capital of the planet. On top of multiple building were unknown weapons that were tearing the alliance army apart. However the weapon that drew Chants eyes was a giant weapon that was aimed towards the sky.

"Those are called Legends." Achamoth said walking up beside Chant passing through the holographic bodies of comrades that were long dead. He was still wearing his helmet but he was obviously better by the way he was acting.

"Legends?"

"We named them Legends because of their destructive power. They fire some type of beam that would pass through our ships causing no damage whatsoever. However the beam would become spherical at a certain point that happened to be in the center of our fleets. At first nothing happens but once it builds up an explosion goes off that engulfs everything leaving almost nothing behind."

"Do you mean that sphere that went off in space?" she looked at him for confirmation and he nodded. "How were you able to stop such a weapon?" Chant asked in disbelief that the humans went up against something like this and won yet they couldn't beat the Ecumene.

"It took us weeks to finally push into the city but it had taken years for us to take most of the planet since flood reinforcements would continue to arrive in system. By the time we got there we were exhausted from the years of fighting, however the flood left their weapons and we used them against them. However we only won thanks to sacrifice of Fredric."

The memory changed again and this time memory Achamoth was standing near the center of the city. His armor was shattered leaving only his bodysuit. However most of that missing to, the only parts that remained were the torso, and legs the rest was gone revealing his arms and blood going down them. He had a hand on his ear piece and he was currently talking to someone.

"Fredric there has to be another way," Achamoth cried. "We just have to wait you don't have to sacrifice yourself to take down this weapon."

'_Achamoth even you must realize that I am the only one capable of taking this weapon down. No one else will arrive in time and unless I do this now you will be surrounded on all ends without reinforcements._' Fredric said over the com while he flew in his fighter that was heading towards the capital.

"Please Fredric I promised you that you'd survive this battle. If you die now I will have broken my promise."

'_This isn't your fault Achamoth. Everyone's life comes to an end one day and this is just another journey. Besides remember what I told you I believe in reincarnation so one day I will be reborn and who knows maybe we'll meet again in another life._' In reality though Fredric knew that was a slim chance.

"Fredric you're like a brother I can—" memory Achamoth had tears in his eyes ignoring the gun shots that were going off in all directions. His guards looked at him and knew that whatever the person was saying was affecting him terribly. Chant turned to face the current Achamoth and saw he was looking at everyone around him wishing he could touch them and save them from their fate.

'_Achamoth… promise… promise me you'll survive this war,' _Fredric said as tears formed in his eyes. '_Also please do me a favor Achamoth protect our empire and don't let it be taken by this abomination. Many generations are not born yet but they deserve to live in a time when they don't have to fight for their survival._'

"I promise." Was all memory Achamoth said before he lowered his hand from the com link. Looking up he saw Fredric's green fighter fly overhead before firing all its weapons at the various flood forms that were crawling on the weapon. Suddenly large tentacles shot up out the ground that could have knocked down our warships.

After destroying dozens of transports all of them tried to swat Fredric out of the sky but he evaded all of them and started flying up as far as possible evading the tentacles that were trying to crush him. When he reached the end of the atmosphere he directed his fighter down aiming it downwards at the cannon opening. Ejecting all weapons but one and excess armor the fighters speed increased as it shot downwards.

The Legend aimed up locking onto the fighter before firing several short and controlled bursts at it. The fighter dodged everything while it charged its last weapon which was an early prototype gravity cannon. Before slamming straight into the cannon as it was charging another shot for firing. Everyone looked away as the cannon started glowing in several different areas all of which were hit with the fighter's weapons earlier.

Suddenly the cannon exploded into hundreds of small silver shards while the aftershock blew everyone away. All Flood biomass started to burn away leaving no trace of the flood instead leaving the ruins of the capital and roads that had been destroyed when the planet was first evacuated. Some vehicles were still around but they were almost impossible to tell apart from the ruins.

Looking around Chant saw that all Flood biomass was gone while hundreds of humans and san shyuum were lying on the ground. Most were seriously injured but they were still breathing. At first Chan though they were all going to give up and die but they started struggling to stand up and many started pulling each other up looking around at the ruins of the capital. The only thing left of the precursor weapon was the tower that it was sitting on while black smoke was coming from the tower.

Chant's best guess was that the smoke was coming from the fighter that had sacrificed himself to destroy the weapon. Then the memory ended and Chant and Achamoth were standing in his personal quarters again. Chant turned to see Achamoth and watched as he placed the sphere back on its pedestal and then went to his bed before sitting down.

Grabbing his head in his arms he looked down at the ground remembering all the friends he lost over the course of two wars. Now he was alone while the bodies were spread all over on various worlds while others were floating in space lifeless and cold while he was still alive and should have died hundreds of times over but it was thanks to his friends sacrifices that he had survived as long as he has.

'_He has lost everyone in his life and now he is all alone._' Chants ancilla said suddenly while she stood there unsure, of what to do. Despite spending a long time with the humans she still didn't understand many of the things that made them what they were. At least she understood though that when they shrugged they didn't really care.

Looking at the spheres and then at Achamoth she realized he was like her before the Human-Forerunner Wars began. While he lost everyone around him she still had her family at least until the orbital bombardment. Now though both of them were truly alone and now she realizes why she is drawn to him it was because they were alone and wanted someone in each other's life.

Discarding her armor again Chant sat down on the bed beside Achamoth before taking his head in her hands. Removing his helmet Chant looked Achamoth in the eyes before taking his lips into a kiss again before leaning their heads together.

"No matter what Achamoth I won't leave you." Chant said looking him straight in the eyes. Achamoth looked at Chant and nodded slightly before falling back in bed.

**9,200 years after Human-Forerunner Wars  
Location: Charum Hakkor**

Achamoth's fleet exited slipspace over Charum Hakkor. Looking out of the viewport everyone saw was the ruins of the last fleets that guarded the capital. Hundreds of Orbital Defense Platforms and space stations were damaged beyond repair while the oceans were still the color of blood. On the surface of the planet was nothing but dust, however the dust wasn't any dust it was the bones of everyone that had died.

On the other side of the ruins sat the Audacity which had arrived to pick up Chant. Waiting for the first move a transport left the Audacity and headed towards Achamoth's Leviathan which had a hanger open waiting to receive the transport which Chant and Achamoth were standing in.

Like every ship the transport passed through several rings before the hangers shield went down and allowed it to land. Once it landed safely a line of humans and san shyuum formed up waiting to receive their guests. A ramp came down from the transport hitting the deck with a thud and then a hatch opened revealing the Librarian and two Lifeworkers.

Every time the Librarian came on board one of the ships she was amazed by the prospect of how accepting these species were. She knew though that this fleet was only a small fraction of whatever remained in the intergalactic void. The rest most likely hated the Ecumene for taking everything away from them and forcing them to start anew.

Looking down the row of soldiers the Librarian saw Achamoth and Chant waiting for her. Stopping several feet away she looked around and saw dozens of fighters docked on the roof filled with various weapons. A part of her was wondering what her husband would think though since she was secretly discussing with his enemies. Now though she floated there and was unsure of what to say.

"Librarian it is good to see you again." Achamoth said first breaking the silence.

"Likewise Achamoth, so please do tell me has your empire agreed on moving its armies yet?" Librarian asked.

"I'm afraid not it will still take some time. Since two of our top councilors are against me it will be nearly impossible to start large scale productions. However since I still control half our fleet I'll do my best to boost my forces before it becomes too late."

"Are you sure you want to go behind your councils back? Just taking my Lifeworker Chant-to-Green must have been a gamble since most humans and san shyuum are still distrustful of us." Hearing that Achamoth chuckled a little surprising him slightly since the small chuckle represented he was still human in one way or the other.

"I wouldn't say our two races are distrustful. Instead they both fear and hate you all for destroying everything we accomplished. The new Lord of Admirals Scranton is an example of that, the moment Chant walked into our council chambers he nearly ordered our guards to kill her."

The Librarian then reached out and placed a hand on Achamoth's helmet examining it as if it was the last thing she would ever see. "I am truly amazed at how much your species have accomplished in so little time it makes me support my claims that humanity is indeed the inheritors of the mantle."

Achamoth just nodded his head taking the Librarian's hand away before letting it go. "No the humanity I serve is not the inheritors of the mantle. Instead I believe it is those that are stranded on Erde-Tyrene that shall inherit it."

"They are just de-evolved humans though from your various worlds that weren't conquered. So shouldn't they still be the same humans as you?" One of the Lifeworkers asked taking his eyes away from a human that was eyeing him.

"They may indeed be de-evolved humans from our empire but already they are different from us. We are just one race of humans that has done many things in our lifetime," Achamoth looked at the Forerunners and then his various soldiers who were standing there motionless. "That humanity can start anew while ours will always stay in the shadows watching over them."

"That is… a strange belief you have for a human. However I must ask since they are humans just like you why haven't you tried to take them back—" the last Lifeworker asked.

"Erde-Tyrene is within Forerunner controlled space and I won't want a war to just get back several hundred thousand people. Those humans I want to see them grow and develop in ways we never have. From what I learned from Chant there are already many different species of humans and now they are slowly starting to rebuild."

"All that is true but didn't you hide any technology on your home world before you ran away." Hearing those words many humans started glaring at the Forerunner since none of them wanted to run away instead they were forced to retreat.

"No our home planet is just a planet of natural resources no technology is on it. When they reach into the stars again they will have ships that are entirely different from our own."

"I see then thank you for telling me that. I am afraid I must go now since the Ecumene doesn't know where I am and if they go to Erde-Tyrene and find I'm not there I fear they might start to worry. Now come, Chant we have much to discuss." Chant nodded and followed after the Librarian and Lifeworkers.

Before the Forerunners left Achamoth said loud enough for everyone to hear. "The Halos must be a last resort in case all else fails." The Librarian stopped however continued after a brief second. How do the humans know about the halo array? Not turning around the transports hatch closed and left the Leviathan.

**Audacity  
Location: Hanger**

By the time the transport returned to the Audacity the human fleet had already vanished. Floating out of the transport the Librarian went towards the bridge that was nearly empty except for a few Lifeworkers and several monitors.

Chant looked out the bridge and was saddened by the fact that they were now gone and she probably wouldn't see them again until the flood returns. Turning around to see the remains of a long forgotten battle she could have almost imagined what this battle must have been like while she fought on the ground.

"Chant what was the human and san shyuum capital like?" Librarian asked suddenly.

"It is to say the least magnificent but I barely saw anything. From what I could tell they made four artificial worlds that are 75,000km in diameter before connecting them with huge bridges that were for military and council members use. Like our capital there's is also guarded by a large fleet at all times."

"I see so they managed to reverse our astroengineering feats and it was most likely thanks to that human Yprin. She was always a smart human but to think they managed to make things similar to our own tech." the Librarian sighed. If the war never happened she would have liked to have a discussion with that human since she seemed like the most open and accepting of their race. Also from what she could gather from the records Yprin was an individual who could always bring up a good conversation.

"Many things they have now are similar to our own. However they have one thing we might never have."

"What's that?" the Librarian asked truly interested in hearing what the humans had.

"Achamoth's Leviathan in equipped with Precursor Weapons, Engines, and shields making it probably the most powerful ship in the known galaxy."

"The humans managed to activate precursor tech did they find the organon?" the Librarian was now truly interested in the prospect of getting to see the organon working. Honestly she believed it was just a myth but if humanity found it then she had to get a chance to examine the most mystical object that is sought by young forerunners.

Chant nodded no while her armor darkened. "No before our war the flood managed to activate several precursor constructs around there empire. Once the humans won they took all the weapons they could salvage and placed them onto his warship or rather the prototype the Leviathans are based off of."

"How do you know all of this?"

"After the council meeting he took me to his personal quarters and showed me memories of the Human-Flood Wars that they barely won. It was only thanks to the sacrifice of many that they were able to win their battles. Then we came around and destroyed what remained of them." Chant said sadly. All the memories did though was make her feel guilty for the role she played in the war and there inevitable destruction.

"Chant most of humanity and the san shyuum don't trust and probably never will but Achamoth has more than enough trust in us that he is willing to go against his own council for the sake of the galaxy so we mustn't let them down." While she still hated herself for what she did the humans and san shyuum she got to know had accepted her after a long time together.

"I know." And with those last words Chant left the Librarian who set the course for Erde-Tyrene. Something wasn't right about Charum Hakkor and it was best to just leave the graveyard since something was radiating death and it wasn't the billions of bodies. The Primordial was waiting for its freedom and it was only a matter of time before it returned.

**10,000 years after Human-Forerunner Wars  
Forerunner-Flood War, Location: Battle of the Capital**

Chant-to-Green now found herself standing onboard the bridge of a Fortress-Class Warship that was working with the citadel defense fleet to destroy the rouge halo rings that Mendicant Bias had taken control of. Even though she enjoyed her time as a Lifeworker again she had to return to the Warrior-Servants since the rate had been re-established and the Forerunner-Flood War had broken out.

When she returned she was instantly put in command of a Fortress that had just been finished. Now though she wondered where Achamoth and his armies were since the war has been going on for a long time and it looked like they may lose their government.

"Chant-to-Green one of the halos is going to fire!" A Warrior-Servant shouted as he was scanning the battle. Currently two of the five halos were destroyed another got away and now one of them were charging their main weapon.

"Damn it what do we do? Achamoth if you're going to show up a good time would be right now." Chant muttered since the situation was nearly hopeless. They were currently two far away to do anything while the rest of the remaining ships were trying to destroy the other two installations.

"Slipspace ruptures detected the signatures are unknown but whatever's coming its huge." Another Warrior-Servant said and on cue several dozen slipspace ruptures opened up behind the halo rings. All the ships stopped firing wondering who was arriving and if they were allies or more enemies.

Ships came out that Chant recognized as Leviathans, Destroyers, and Prime Cruisers that all seemed to have been upgraded to a certain extent in all the fleet had 3 Leviathans, 10 Destroyers, and 15 Prime Cruisers. Within seconds the new fleet started firing on the halos ignoring the Forerunner ships that also returned to their own battle.

Mendicant Bias and the Primordial were to say the least surprised that these new ships arrived. Having no choice he ordered Installation 07 to flee to preset coordinates while he stayed behind knowing that he might be deactivated but he had to ensure the Primordial survived.

Within minutes the last halo rings that were under Mendicant Bias's control were now pieces of metal floating next to the capital now both fleets were wondering what to do now. The Forerunners were wondering if they were enemies despite the aid they received while the human fleet sat there and started to deactivate there various weapons.

Chant realized what they were doing was a sign of good faith. Now the question was if the Forerunners would do the same. Now several holograms of various Forerunners appeared on her bridge to discuss what should be done about the new guests.

"What do we do? They may have helped us destroy our various halo rings before it was too late but now they have a larger fleet sitting right next to our capital." One commander said while examining the main ships that led them. He noted that they had various weapons and the ships were larger than their own fortresses. Suddenly though the ships tips opened and a large cannon started to slowly extend out.

"They have deactivated their weapons as a sign of good faith. We should do the same since anymore-unnecessary bloodshed should be unavoidable. Besides they have a larger fleet than we do at the moment and not only that there fleet it sitting right next to our capital. If we do anything they can attack before we can do anything."

"What I want to know is where they came from. How have we never run into anyone with ships like those? We are currently fighting a war against the flood but we should have found them before the flood arrived." However one Warrior-Servant turned to face Chant.

"Honorary Warrior-Servant Chant-to-Green what do you have to say about this."

Chant looked at all her fellow Warrior-Servants before sighing. "They are obviously not our enemies so we should do the nice thing and lower our weapons as well. If they came here to destroy us they can obviously do that and at the same time destroy the capital." Looking at the Leviathans she was surprised to see such a weapon so did that mean they were upgraded as well.

"You talk as if you already knew they were coming."

"I did," Chant said nonchalantly before another hologram appeared that wasn't Forerunner. "Warrior-Servants this is the Supreme Commander Achamoth one of the three leaders that rule over there empire." Saying that took a mouthful and even though the Forerunners expression couldn't be seen many were shocked that the humans empire survived the downfall of Charum Hakkor.

"What… How… how is it possible the Humans Empire survived we destroyed them and once we conquered Charum Hakkor we sent parties out for search in case any managed to escape." A Warrior-Servant said in disbelief.

"You did conquer our empire but as the war was progressing we took steps to survive since we already knew that we were doomed. However Chant-to-Green I am not Achamoth I am instead one of his commanders, he is currently at Erde-Tyrene to see what the next generation of humans will look like." Before anyone else could respond the first councilor Splendid-Dust appeared who had decided to stay while Glory took Born since he was more important than himself.

"Everyone today is a momentous day. Even though the ancient humans were thought to be defeated they have come and rescued us from our very own weapons. I don't know what you commanders are thinking but we should be grateful that we were rescued. So lower your weapons they already have us" The commanders all looked at each other and they twisted their hands acknowledging the councilor.

Dust then turned to the human commander. "Can we call you allies in this war?" the others looked at the human who just shrugged. Everyone looked at each other wondering what that meant since they knew close to nothing about human culture.

"That means they don't really care." Chant spoke up while the human nodded. Suddenly dozens of slipspace ruptures opened up next to the human fleet and 5 more Leviathans came out but the center one stood out of the rest. Suddenly a new hologram appeared on her bridge at it was Achamoth this time.

"Chant-to-Green, why do you know so much about human culture? From what we remember you were the Bain of humanity and killed any that had stood in your way." Chant looked at the Forerunner and felt anger course through her veins. No matter how much she improved she would always be remembered as the Lifeworker that had killed humanity without a thought of remorse.

"I know only a little about human culture because I have been with them for awhile." Hearing that many were shocked but Chant didn't care since she hoped that one day she would be known for something else then the slaughtering of humans and san shyuum.

**Year: 100,000 B.C.E  
Second Battle of the Forerunner Capital**

Human San Shyuum and Forerunner warships were engaged with a flood fleet that outnumbered them 20:1. Achamoth was on his bridge while he examined the battle. Despite having 15 Leviathans and 20 Fortress-Class Vessels with them they couldn't possibly defend the capital with such a small fleet and all available ones were in their own battles at the moment. Most of the defense fleet had been destroyed and the rest was struggling to hold the flood back. Not just that but all A.I.'s were offline since they couldn't be used anymore or else they risked infection by the Graveminds and their ultimate leaders the Key Minds.

"Get me the Iso-Didact and Chant-to-Green immediately." Achamoth said as he left the bridge and went to the holographic deck that showed a much larger hologram of the battle. Walking into the room Achamoth saw the Iso-Didact and Chant looking at him. Between them was the Forerunner Capital and dozens of arrows that represented the ships of sides, blue for the alliance and green for the flood.

"Why have you called us Achamoth?" the Didact said whom Achamoth had been clashing with ever since he had returned. After agreeing to an alliance both governments decided the Iso-Didact and Chant-to-Green would lead the Forerunner controlled fleets. While Achamoth and Scranton would lead the combined human and san shyuum fleets, however Chant did have some command over these fleets as well but only if they were in the area.

"Fellow commanders I am sorry but there is no way we can protect the capital without taking tremendous loses. Unless we pull back now our fleet will be destroyed when they can be use full in future engagements. The Keymind that is leading this fleet has outsmarted us."

"Achamoth isn't there another way?" Chant asked however she knew this battle was becoming hopeless. Looking out of her bridge she watched as one of the 15 Leviathans split in half and exploded before it was engulfed by a slipspace drive. Most of the Leviathans were seriously damaged since they had been sacrificing themselves to protect the capital from flood dispersal pods.

"At this rate we are going to lose. The only option left is for you two to get all the Forerunners and Councilor's you can while my remaining fleets and I will do our best to cover your escape." Looking at the hologram of the battle two slipspace ruptures opened up behind the flood fleet and two Star Roads shot out heading right for the capital.

"All Leviathans concentrate all your combined fire on the Star Roads we can't let them through." Achamoth ordered and as the Leviathans got into a formation they started to unload on the Star Roads with everything they had left. Thousands of fighters would fly sorties bombing them with everything before pulling back and having another squadron take their place.

Finally the Star Roads crumbled under the combined power of the Leviathans but it wasn't without a cost. 5 Leviathans had been destroyed but not before they slammed there ships into the Star Roads to slow them down.

"Chant, Iso-Didact you need to hurry more Star Roads are bound to appear and we don't have the available firepower to stop them if they arrive in force."

"What about you?" Chant argued. Achamoth looked at everyone on his ship and they all nodded in understanding. The chances of them surviving was slim but if they could make sure half their commanders survived then there sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

"I will do my best to make sure you both escape. Once you do go to Erde-Tyrene, when you get there a human fleet will be waiting and then they will take you to our capital." Achamoth then left before Chant could say anything. After several hours the Forerunner fleets entered slipspace except for one Fortress-Class Vessel while only 4 Leviathans remained out of the original 15 and the flood fleet was continuing to increase in size. No Star Roads had appeared instead they were attacking Forerunner only fleets and tearing them apart since they had no effective defense against such power.

Each of them was seriously damaged but they refused to stop fighting until the last Forerunner ship left. "Supreme Commander Chant-to-Green demands to talk to you at once." A human said that was operating one of the control panels. Sighing Achamoth left his post and walked into the holographic room again.

"Chant what are you doing here, you have been ordered to retreat with the Forerunner ships so why are you still here?" Achamoth demanded as he walked up to her hologram that seemed to be so lifelike. Before he could react Achamoth felt himself getting lifted into the air by a constraint field and he instantly realized that someone had let her board his ship without him realizing it.

"Achamoth I have no intention of leaving you unless you retreat with me." Chant then walked over to Achamoth while he tried to move. The soldiers that were operating the room stood off to the side since they learned the hard way not to stand in the way of an angry Forerunner when they are determined to get what they want especially Chant-to-Green.

"Chant I refuse to leave the remains of my fleet. Besides this ship has taken far too much damage to retreat if we turn it around it will be torn apart but your ship can get away so go while you have the chance." Chant looked at Achamoth and sighed before her helmet retracted again. Not giving him a chance she pulled her arm back and he was sent flying to her.

Catching his head with one arm she slammed him into the deck of his ship while her hair flew wildly behind her. Achamoth was to say the least surprised that Chant had this kind of strength. Getting a better look at her he saw that her features hadn't changed so that meant she hadn't taken the Warrior-Servant mutation so the question was where this strength came from. Trying to pull her hand of his face proved to be useless, since she held him there while the operators just went back to work not wanting to get in-between the two commanders.

"Achamoth, I have no intention of abandoning you—" Chant was about to say but before she could continue the commanders of the last Leviathans showed up. Looking at the various commanders, Chant took her hand off of Achamoth's head and stepped back to see why the last commanders were here.

"Why are all you here?" Achamoth asked while getting up, cracking his neck he saw that the Leviathans were on the verge of collapse. The shields were gone and now the only thing keeping the ships together was the thin layers of metal that were understand constant bombardment. Out of the thousands of fighters they had left only a few squadrons remained and they were being overworked since they didn't have nearly guns to stop the flood dispersal pods from breaching the hulls.

"Achamoth all of us have agreed that it is best for you to escape."

"Before you argue, you must face the facts. Out of all the Leviathans in the known galaxy yours will be needed until the very end. Also your leadership skills are on par with the Didacts."

"In time people will come that will surpass me—I"

Chant was about to say something but before he could do anything he was slammed against the wall by one of his soldiers. Looking at who had dared to slam him against the wall and it was none other than Fredric's brother Nathaniel. Ever since Fredric's death Achamoth had put it upon him to protect his brother since he had failed and he saw a chance of atonement.

"Nathaniel what are you doing?" one soldier asked however he didn't have a weapon drawn instead he was really wondering why a soldier was willing to attack there commander. While Nathaniel was holding Achamoth to the wall with one arm he took his helmet off and revealed a male that had long blonde hair and blue eyes. In appearance he looked exactly like Fredric but the main difference was the scars that Fred had that Nathan didn't.

"Achamoth, why do you continue to act like this? We all know you have feelings for the Forerunner in this room. Tell me why you haven't thought of her," Nathan then pointed his free hand to Chant who wasn't looking at them anymore. "If you die here you will not only break her heart but… you will break the promise you made by brother!"

Hearing that Achamoth fell into shock as he recalled the last thing Fredric asked of him. '_Do me a favor Achamoth protect our empire and don't let it be taken by this abomination? Many generations are not born yet but they deserve to live in a time when they don't have to fight for their survival._' Achamoth looked down at Nathan and then at Chant who still wasn't looking at him.

"You remember don't you? You promised him that you would never let this abomination take our empire or our allies. If you die here not only will you be unable to protect our empire or our allies the Forerunners. We need you and if you refuse to go so help me I'll knock you out and—"

"Nathaniel I think he understands." A commander said slightly worried for Achamoth.

"Achamoth our ships can't take much more damage but we can last more than long enough for you to escape." Achamoth looked at all the individual commanders who nodded slightly. They had already accepted their individual fates and now he was being ordered to run away again. Looking at Chant he remembered that both of them were truly alone and that if he died he would leave her in a world of loneliness. Knowing what had to be done Achamoth ordered the retreat of his Leviathan while the last three made a tight knit shield.

**Flood Controlled Fortress-Class Warship**

A Key Mind was sitting on the bridge of a captured Forerunner Warship watching the battle in front of him with interest. At first it believed the war would be won quickly and effectively but now it was beginning to think that the war was going to last longer. Floating next to it was one of the copies of Mendicant Bias that had been put in control of this fleet until the original metarch was re-established.

"Master one of the remaining Leviathans are retreating alongside the last Forerunner Warship." A flood controlled Forerunner said as it operated one of the controls that were connected to one of the man weapons.

Looking out of the viewport the Key Mind watched as a Leviathan did indeed pull back. Instantly anger was the dominant emotion in the Key Mind's combined conscious since the ship that had Precursor weapons was the one getting away. Right as it was about to give the order to destroy the ship rather than let it get away the remaining ships formed up and blocked his path.

"Destroy those damned warships and stop that Leviathan from escaping. If it gets away it will become a problem in the future." the Key Mind shouted in rage. Despite having the memories of the various Graveminds and Key Minds from the Human-Flood War it couldn't understand why its ancestors would leave such weapons for the taking. The fleet lined up and concentrated all available firepower on the destruction of the last three ships that dared to stand in their way.

Even though they were currently enemies a part of the Key Mind that originally believed humanity could have been worthy inheritors of the mantle was impressed by humanities willingness to never surrender. Once humanity and its allies revealed itself from hiding the Flood assault had been halted considerably because of the weapons of destruction humanity had made for this time.

"Humans are indeed worthy of the mantle but we refuse to give it to them freely. If they want it they will have to defeat us." A Gravemind communicated from another Fortress. The Key Mind was indeed the main commander but there were also 9 Graveminds leading the fleet so of course this battle was in the bag. Despite the loss of a few Star Roads their overall fleet was far from defeated.

After continuous firing the Leviathans finally exploded one after another until only one remained. Despite being severally damaged it opened up its main cannon hoping to take at least some of the bastards with them. Knowing what was about to come, the flood fleet started to split but it was already too late to run. The Leviathans main gun had been charged for a long time and it was waiting for a time to use it properly.

"Well played humans. Well played." The Key Mind said telepathically to all the Graveminds that knew that there master was about to be destroyed. Once the shot fired from the Leviathan it shot across the stars and slammed into the Fortress burning it away leaving nothing behind. The remaining power of the shot unleashed a shockwave that destroyed ship that then split several more ships in half.

The remaining Flood fleet looked at the Leviathan that had fired the shot and saw that it was gone. Nothing remained instead after the shot was fired the slipspace drive went off and engulfed the ship and its crew never to return. Meanwhile Chant's and Achamoth's ships got away far to enough to make a jump into slipspace the coordinates Erde-Tyrene where a combined fleet of 300 ships were waiting for them.

**A/N: Now the canon story comes to play in this part sort of. If any have read Halo Silentium then you'll understand the Librarian is at Erde-Tyrene and Chant will go to a keyship because Achamoth doesn't want to lose her.**

**Now that top A/N was a joke. If any of you honestly believed it wasn't well shame on you. If none of you fell for that well you're all smarter than I thought and I will have to try harder next time to fool all of you. If you just skipped to the bottom and didn't read, well shame on you but I am surprised if you did that. Honesty though I will never EVER abandon this story until it is finished from beginning to end. At the rate I'm thinking this story will probably enter the hundred thousand word range before it's done but hey you all get to read something that interests you.**

**I am sad to say though the updates will start to slow down. Why well I am senior in high school. Anyways the reason the updates will slow done is that work is being piled on top me and I don't fall behind. Then there is my personal business, like the senior project that I have to do and after high school I am planning to join the military. The updates won't be really far apart but they will be more of a hmm two to three week skip in between.**

**And no I am not taking a break so I can copy more of Coming of the Ancients instead I have a lot of ideas but it will take time. I am sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but there are plenty of stories for you all to read. My story is far from okay since I have mistakes here and there but I hope you're not angry. Another reason I'm also taking these long updates is that I have another story in the works that I need to scrap and re-do.**

**Again I am sorry and I hope you all forgive me. If you're angry I understand if your sad don't worry I'll be back and if you're happy that I didn't abandon this story well… I don't know what to say. See all next time now I need a catchphrase to put at the end of these hmm?**

**Also I plan to edit this later but right now I have a game to go to and I need sleep since I am running on blanks here. The timeline might be mixed a bit but I blame that on the books since we have no clue how long the war was going on before Born was made the new Didact.**


	3. The End

**Halo Return of Civilization**

**A/N: Hi everybody how are you doing? Anyways I finished this chapter sooner than I had thought so I guess I'll just post it anyways instead of waiting until Monday right? I already forgot when I posted my Authors Note sorry :-). Now I know it had been awhile so my writing isn't really the greatest since I had to make things up as I went along. Now to answer some questions.**

**Fer82- I am sorry for posting one and I will try not to do that in the future.**

**Ny'Kly- Now I am not going to skip over the halo humans, instead I am going to do a timeline kind of thing since I don't really want to write about the war that everyone knows about. Now I am not spoiling anything but when I am done with this war I am moving over to the Mass Effect war. Mainly the one between the Prometheans and the Reapers. Like my summary said I am bringing back some races that are supposed to be dead. So in a way you guess right. Halos fire, and then I jump to Mass Effect for a little and slowly I will bring everything into one large meeting. Of course many are going to argue and I am going to try something that is well nuts. Now for the reapers they wont show up until later. **

**Guest- *sigh* I honestly don't know what to say to you. You remind me of a reviewer who goes by hornet07. So like him I shall do the same to you and stay neutral. Firstly I know this story isn't the greatest and I know that things are missing but hey if you don't like don't read. it is as simple as that. If you hate it you can say your bout but don't hate for the heck of it. Tell me what you hate about it for example again hornet07 pointed out facts about grammar and copying. But you are just saying it is very very confusing and well that doesn't help either of us. I am not chewing you out or arguing I am just asking why you think that way. Next time you review tell me and I will do my best to make it better. Besides it has been awhile since I last read through this story and I know that I have to go back and edit it but hey. **

**P.S.- Leave your Fanfiction Name or some nickname because it is annoying to answer them.**

**Chapter 3 The End**

**Year: 100,000 B.C.E  
Location: Erde-Tyrene**

Achamoth's Leviathan exited slipspace alongside Chant's Fortress. Exhausting vent ports Achamoth's ship started ejecting the most seriously damaged parts of the ship that was beyond repair. In front of the two warships sat a fleet. The fleet was a mixture of various ships that could be spared from being on the front lines. At most only 5 Leviathans and 5 Fortress-Class ships led this fleet while the rest were a mixture of every other known ship.

Behind the fleet sat a couple repair stations that were currently awaiting the arrival of Achamoth's ship. Moving through the blockade the ship docked with the station and hundreds of engineers left various holes and went to work repairing the damaged ship.

Going to a teleporter, "Nothing ventured. Nothing gained. Council Chambers!" Achamoth said before he was teleported to the said destination to meet with the leaders that were currently in the system.

The only ones available at the moment were Scranton, Splendid-Dust, the Librarian, and the Iso-Didact. Taking his place alongside Scranton everyone looked at each other awaiting the report of the disastrous battle in the capital system.

Many knew the details of the battle but they had to know. "Has the capital been taken Achamoth?" Dust asked breaking the silence.

"I am sorry first councilor but there was nothing that could be done. The flood arrived in force with a fleet far larger than ours. Not only that but it was being led by 9 Graveminds and a Key Mind we were outmatched in both numbers and intelligence."

"What happened to your fleet? From what I remember your fleet was 10,000 strong how could of it been destroyed." The Librarian asked holding her husband's hand.

"Like Achamoth said the Flood arrived with a large fleet. Both of our fleets fought admirably but the Flood outnumbered us. Had it not been for his fleets sacrifice most of my fleet would have been destroyed." The Iso-Didact said.

"Well isn't that a surprise, we have been sacrificing our ships time and time again just to protect your fleets. At this rate we won't even have any ships left to continue this war." Scranton said with distaste. Even though he fought alongside Forerunners since the beginning of this war he hated how he had seen hundreds of fleets sacrifice themselves to protect the Forerunners.

"Scranton I am sorry for your peoples sacrifice but at least we have a force to fight with."

"First-Light-Weaves-Living-Songyou must be joking? Your fleets are nearly useless the moment Star Roads appear in the battle. Without our ships you would have already lost!" Scranton shouted.

"Lord of Admirals this is no time for fighting, instead we must prepare for a possible flood assault. It is only a matter of time till they arrive in force and this fleet is too small for a battle." Achamoth said trying to calm down his fellow co-leader.

Scranton sighed knowing that his rival was right. This was no time for fighting amongst ourselves instead they had to think of what to do now that the flood controlled most of the galaxy.

Chant then floated into the room wearing her lifeworker armor. When she was in battle she would wear the armor of Warrior-Servants but when the fighting had ended she would return to wearing the white lifeworker armor the Librarian had given her. Everyone's head turned to her as she took her place next to Forerunners while several San Shyuum followed.

"Now that everyone is gathered we must make preparations for the coming storm. Currently the flood control 2 quarters of our galaxy and it is only a matter of time till they take the rest." The Iso-Didact said.

"Well what do we do? The flood is nearly unstoppable and with the support of Precursor constructs we can barely do anything against them. Only our Leviathans can damage them but we don't have nearly enough to change the tide of this war." A San Shyuum asked. He had been around since the very first Human-Flood Wars and now all he wanted was for this war to end.

"My companions are right. For every Star Road we destroy it costs us close to 7 or 9 Leviathans. Not only that we have no clue how many Star Roads the Flood have under their control." Another Prophet said.

"At this rate the Forerunner Ecumene is eventually going to be pushed to the Greater Ark, but we can't allow that to happen." Achamoth said.

Despite being a great commander he knew that he was nowhere near close to matching the leadership of the flood's combined consciousness and that he could freely admit they had outsmarted him more than once. Had it not been for his fellow commanders he was certain he would be dead by now.

"Achamoth, how exactly do you plan on stopping the flood from reaching the Greater Ark? Most of our combined fleets have been destroyed and the rest are marshalling behind the Maginot Sphere currently." Chant asked.

The Iso-Didact knew that there was no stopping the flood the only option left was to fire the halo rings even if it would violate the mantle. He knew his original would disagree but there was going to be no alternative soon.

"I honestly can't tell you how we are going to stop them."

"Achamoth can you just admit already we lost," Scranton sighed. "The only option left for us is to run away to our satellite galaxy and prepare for the coming assault."

"Lord of Admirals that isn't an option. Instead I want all the remaining Forerunners that aren't going to battle to retreat into our galaxy."

Once those words came out of his mouth Scranton and the San Shyuum looked at him like he was crazy. The Forerunners expressions couldn't be seen since there armor covered them but they were just as surprised by what he had said.

"Achamoth are you insane! Why should we give them asylum in our own galaxy when this one is there's." Scranton shouted meanwhile Splendid-Dust stepped forward and looked at the human who he had developed a respect for long ago and someone he hoped he could call a friend.

"Achamoth, why are you willing to shelter us? Even though were allies at the moment we still had a role in destroying your original empire, why are you willing to help us so suddenly?" Dust asked. Achamoth looked at everyone in the room before he took his helmet off and placing it between one of his arms.

Running a hand into his long hair Achamoth stared everyone down. Despite his youthful appearance there was no hiding the fact that he had seen many things that none of them could ever understand. Everyone here had maybe seen billions die but he had seen trillions and he hoped that this would the last time he ever saw so many generations die during war time.

"We may have been enemies once but the reason I am doing this is for my own reasons. I refuse to abandon my allies and I will be damned if I let your race get wiped out when I know I could have done something."

Chant looked at Achamoth and something told her she knew where he was going with this. "My government may not like having you around but I don't care. As long as I lead a 1/3 of our government I will shelter you and everyone else that runs to us."

"Achamoth! That doesn't change the fact that you are going to let Forerunners enter our galaxy. You may be a leader but the council will never stand for this. Hell even I don't stand for this, we should just let the Forerunners die with this galaxy."

Before Scranton could say anymore he felt his self get thrown backwards by none other than Chant again. When Chant was about to say something Achamoth raised his arm wanting her to stop since this was his problem and his alone.

"Scranton I don't care what you or the council thinks. Currently I control 1/3 of our satellite galaxy and that part is where the Forerunners will go. Now before you say 'what about your council position' let me tell you that I don't care about it. The council can expel me for all I care but know this. I refuse to leave the Forerunners here to die."

While he said his bought, the San Shyuum recorded the speech and sent the recording to the empire for all to here. Of course a riot was going to break out but the area that Achamoth controlled started moving things around. Even though they were distrustful of the Forerunners they were still going to allow them to live with them since most of them knew Chant one way or the other.

The children didn't mind since they found her to be immensely beautiful and when she showed up, she would play with them. Parents were going to be the problem though, some were very distrustful but they were going to trust their leader's judgment.

"Thank you Achamoth for what you are doing, but what about the Greater Ark?" The Librarian asked while Chant and the Didact promised they would talk with him later about the sacrifice he was making for them.

"In the end First Councilor the Flood will push us back to the Greater Ark. When that time comes I bet they will believe we are going to be destroyed there once and for all but nothing will be there except those that are willing to fight."

Chant looked at Achamoth and realized he knew that a battle at the Greater Ark was nearly hopeless and the chance of survival was almost zero. Those that were willing to stay were going to be put into a meat grinder and none were going to survive such a battle.

'_He wouldn't willingly sacrifice himself would he?_' she asked herself while he pointed to a hologram of the Greater Ark.

"While the remains of our military will fight them here I want the Iso-Didact to go to the Lesser Ark to prepare the halo array." Achamoth looked at all the Forerunners and saw most of them tense. "I am sorry but this is the only way to stop them or else they will take this galaxy. Our combined military has nowhere near the man power left to win all we can do is hold out till the very end."

The Didact agreed but he didn't voice his opinion. He may have fought alongside Achamoth time and time again but his pride as a commander wouldn't allow him to say it. Instead he just made a hand gesture which surprised his wife who had seen him.

"We understand, so when do we start moving our people to your galaxy?" Dust asked. Even though he hated the halo array and its design he knew it was the only way.

"You can start moving them now. Currently twelve worlds were just completed—I"

He was then cut off by the voice of Scranton again. "Achamoth are you telling us you have been planning on letting Forerunners into our home?" he shouted and half cried in disbelief that his rival could have thought this far ahead.

"Honestly I didn't think this far ahead. The planets were originally made for military purposes but now they have a more important role and it is sheltering our… friends."

_It was hard to think of a word to call the Forerunners so the word friend would have to suffice_, Achamoth thought.

After that meeting the council broke off and went to go take of personal business. Splendid-Dust took a ship to the Greater Ark and began the exodus out of the galaxy and to the shelter that awaited his people. The others had personal business to take care of but Chant and Achamoth were in the same room together and one of them was very, very angry.

**Location: Space Station Epsilon  
Room: Unknown**

Before Achamoth could react he was thrown across the room by Chant-to-Green who had removed her helmet to reveal an angry expression that Achamoth was certain she never had before. Trying to move Achamoth gave up and watched as she floated over to him gracefully. Once they were within arms range he felt a slap strike his face and his head snapped sideways with a painful snap.

"Achamoth you are planning to lead the last defense at the Greater Ark aren't you?" she shouted at him while he looked at her and saw sadness was now the dominant expression in her youthful appearance.

"Tell me; tell me why you must always put yourself in harm's way? Why can't it be someone else?"

"Chant this is the only way besides you no better than anyone that the flood fears me. I have faced many of their leaders face to face and come out still sane. Besides if the flood thinks I am going to make my last stand there they will fall for the bait, besides I won't be alone the Offensive Bias is there with one of the remaining halos from your original array."

"You can't honestly be telling me you think one halo and Offensive Bias will change the tide of the battle do you?" Chant asked as she let him go and let him drop in front of her while his head was lowered.

Walking over to her Achamoth pulled her into his arms and hugged as gently as he could, at first she tried to struggle but he refused to let her go and she gave up trying to get out of his embrace. She found it ironic how they started out as mortal enemies and now they were lifelong friends.

"I don't believe they will change the tide of the battle. Instead we will slow them down so that the halos can be activated."

"What about you then? If you stay behind when the halos fire you will be killed along with everything else. Achamoth we have been together for to… I can't lose you." Chant cried as she held him in her hands.

Despite being of two different and very similar races they cared for one another greatly and when people saw them in public they were surprised that two very different people could get along. Those that knew them were even surprised but none were willing to ask. The two of them had lost their families and they were together for a reason, but they didn't know why.

Brushing back some of her hair, he leaned forward, "Chant you will never lose me… I will always be in your memory." He whispered into her ear.

Before she could say anything she felt a sharp pain in her gut as she was winded before feeling a blow connect with her head. Falling forwards she looked up and saw that Achamoth was standing over her with a sad expression. Slowly her conscious faded, but her last thought was why he was doing this.

-Line Break-

**The Audacity**

Achamoth walked into the Librarian's ship carrying the unconscious body of Chant-to-Green. In front of him waited the Librarian and she was looking at him wondering why he was carrying Chant. Floating over to him she placed a hand on Chant's forehead and sighed in relief. She wasn't hurt instead she was just sleeping peacefully for maybe the first time in a long time. What she didn't know was that the time Chant was with the humans she had slept many times and it became a part of her daily routine.

"Achamoth why is Chant unconscious?" she asked as she looked up into the man's face. Even though he looked physically like a young adult his eyes showed otherwise. They were hollow but at the same time a faint glow burned in the background.

"Librarian very soon I will be leaving with my flagship to marshal with the Orion Complex Defense Operations for the remainder of the war. Before I leave though I was hoping I count entrust Chant's safety to you. If she knew about what I was thinking she would go with me and I couldn't live with myself if she died with me." Achamoth then set her down and leaned her against the wall gently before stepping back.

The Librarian looked at Chant and then at Achamoth. "Tell me before you go at least," he stopped in mid turn and faced her again. "Do you love her with all your heart?"

Silence followed as he just stood there unsure of what to say. On one side they had shared kisses here and there but was it love? She also cared for him more and more and recently her actions were beginning to support it. But never once has he asked his self if what he was feeling was love.

Love. It was an emotion that he hadn't felt since his mother died. Sure he had several flings but none of them lasted and yet Chant was someone that he felt drawn to. Looking at her body he felt the urge to wipe her long silver hair out of her face. Unlike most Forerunners she was both beautiful and kind in her own way and then he knew what to say.

"Honestly I love her and where I am going is somewhere I don't want her to follow. The chance of my survival is slim but as long as this war comes to an end I don't care what happens to me just as long as she lives." With that he turned around and walked away.

_Achamoth even if she lives her heart will be broken, so please for the sake of her survive the coming storm_. The Librarian thought as she watched him disappear, looking down at the sleeping women she wondered what it felt like to sleep since he hadn't slept for a long time.

Knowing what to do, she was going to have Chant placed in a part of the burn in order for her to get in touch with her lifeworker heritage. And once the OCDO was pushed back to the Greater Ark she would have her return so that she could then pass on the title of Lifeshaper onto her.

The longer she stared at Chant the more she felt her eyes get sleepy. Talking to her Ancilla she decided to leave it in charge while she slept for a little bit.

-Line Break-

**Erde-Tyrene Defense Fleet**

It took a few days but Achamoth's Leviathan had finally been repaired. Now it was leaving the repair station and meeting up with a battle group that would go with him to the Greater Ark. After that his battle group would then receive new ships and they would then join the Iso-Didact who was heading to the OCDO. Standing on the bridge Achamoth saw a lone keyship leaving the fleet and jumping into slipspace, he wondered where they were going but he had no time to start thinking about it.

As the battle group left the defensive perimeter of this fleet they entered slipspace as well. Since the Greater Ark was outside of the Galaxy it took a few hours but when the battle group arrived they saw that a fleet of 10,000 ships were waiting for them. In the center of the fleet though sat the last halo ring of the original 12 that had survived while the rest had been destroyed during the course of the war.

After passing through the cleansing fields Achamoth saw two ships exit slipspace alongside his. One he recognized as the Audacity and the other he recognized almost immediately. It was the original Didact's flagship the Mantle's Approach. As the two ships were passing one another Achamoth could see some of its weapons being aimed at his. At the last second however a few sentinels appeared and the guns went offline.

Sighing he looked at the Greater Ark and behind it he saw hundreds of ships leaving and entering slipspace. He was glad that his people agreed to shelter them despite their obvious hesitance. But the thing that made Achamoth trust his people more were that they would defend anyone in there sphere of influence. So he was certain that the Forerunners would be safe and now all that remained was ending this war.

Looking at the defense fleet he saw 75 Fortress Class and almost 100 Leviathans formed up in the middle alongside one another. In the front of the fleet sat the Prime Cruisers, Planet Breakers, and Dreadnoughts. Behind the heavy hitters sat the Destroyers and a few mobile ODP's and Space Stations. However that wasn't all more ships were arriving every hour. With the fall of the Capital the Greater Ark would now become the new capital of their government until they moved it to his galaxy.

Placing his battle group next to the center of the fleet Achamoth took a transport down to the Greater Ark to meet with the Ecumene Council that had re-established here if only temporary. While all available ships that could be spared were being pulled back ready to reinforce any of the remaining fleets that were currently in battle.

As Achamoth's transport landed by the Citadel he came out and saw hundreds of Warrior-Servants waiting for him. Walking out he was greeted by many of them who was thanking him for accepting there people in these trying times. Doing his best to say it was no problem he finally entered the Citadel and saw all the commanders that had come to greet to him and the Ur-Didact with whom he despised more than anyone in this known galaxy.

**Unknown Years Later****  
Chant's Keyship**

It had been a few years since she last saw him but Chant was to say the least annoyed at how Achamoth had forced her hand. When she first awoke she promised herself she would give him a piece of her mind but before she could the Librarian had her transferred to a keyship. Then she was placed in a part of the burn that the Flood had abandoned since there were some species the Librarian wanted her to index.

At first she wanted to know why she was doing this but she soon learned why. The OCDO was being pushed back more and more and soon they would be forced to the Greater Ark and Achamoth's master plan. While she wanted to help in the war the time she spent collecting specimens made her realize how much she enjoyed being a Lifeworker. Sure she was deep in enemy territory but if it was for the Librarian's plan to seed the galaxy again and it was well worth it.

She wasn't entirely out of the loop though, Chant kept herself updated on how the OCDO was doing. Apparently the Ur-Didact came back and he took her place as one of the four commanders. At first she didn't care but she then heard that the Ur-Didact tried to destroy Achamoth's fleet during one of the assaults against a Flood fleet that was moving in towards Erde-Tyrene.

Thanks to Achamoth's quick wit he was able to outsmart the Ur-Didact and continue the original plan of launching a surprise assault on a fleet that had 7 Graveminds. It didn't come without a price however 35% of Achamoth's fleet was destroyed in battle while the rest were severely damaged.

Had it not been for the Librarian's quick intervention Chant would have abandoned her current mission and returned to the Ecumene to personally face Didact herself. While the part of her that was a Warrior-Servant respected the Ur-Didact the rest of her despised him.

Before she never questioned the Didact's orders during the Forerunner-Human Wars but now that she looked back she realized she did many things because of his order. She was ordered time and time again to slaughter defenseless humans and that had all been because he ordered it.

Now that she looks back she wonders why she hadn't refused such an order. But deep down she knew why, she hated humanity for taking her parents and siblings lives and she wanted nothing but revenge. It was wrong but after she met Achamoth for that last time he indirectly caused the changes until now and for that she was grateful.

Because of his actions in that battle the Ur-Didact almost caused the collapse of the Alliance but again Achamoth stood in the way. He didn't blame him instead he blamed it on a grudge that he had on him.

They had faced one another countless times during there first war and he had escaped again and again leaving his mark on the old Promethean. All that was a few years ago but as time went on the alliance formed a tight knit bond thanks to everything that Achamoth was doing for the Ecumene.

Now Chant found herself heading to the Greater Ark for a multitude of reasons. One was so she could finally see Achamoth again to give her a piece of her mind for what happened years ago. Another was that she needed to know what the Librarian wanted since she finished her task. While the main reason Chant came, was that the Ecumene had fallen back and they were preparing their final stand at the Greater Ark.

Once her keyship exited slipspace she came face to face with a large fleet that was stationed all around the ark. From what she could tell there was maybe 15,000 ships however one caught her attention and it was the one sitting right in front of her. Since she's seen the ship nearly a thousand times she recognized it as Achamoth's Leviathan. It didn't look to change much but currently its main weapon was open and charging up for the coming battle.

Passing through the cleansing fields the fleet parted and she directed the ship to the surface of the Greater Ark where she was certain Achamoth was waiting for her.

As her ship landed on the surface she removed her helmet and teleported to the ramp that had extended to the ground. Standing at the bottom of the ramp stood the one person she was hoping to see first, Achamoth.

Achamoth was standing there with a hand on one of his hips looking off into another direction while his long black hair blew in the wind. Beside him stood the new Lord of Admirals Nathaniel, the Librarian, both the Didact's, Splendid-Dust, and the original Master Builder Faber.

Chant was to say the least surprised that so many high ranking figures would be here just to greet her, when she was no longer a commander. She was certain that Achamoth would show along with the Librarian but everyone else was something surprising.

Looking up in the direction of Chant, Achamoth saw that her long silver hair was now touching the ground as she slowly approached them. However he then felt the familiar tug of a constraint field and saw that her eyes were on him. Chant then heard Nathaniel laugh at Achamoth and it surprised her a little that he would laugh so freely next to Forerunners.

From what she remembered most humans were cautious of laughing next to Forerunners. But from the looks of it Nathaniel was laughing like he was with a group of old friends that hadn't seen each other in a long time.

"Achamoth, I told you the moment you two were reunited; she would lift you up with a constraint field." He said while Dust laughed a little himself.

The others just stood there wondering what to do. The Iso-Didact found these humans to be… very interesting. While his original thought otherwise.

The Ur-Didact continued to time and time again ruin this alliance but every time he was stopped in his tracks by Achamoth. When they first crossed paths in the Human-Forerunner Wars, he was certain the young man would never rise to high ranking position.

Now almost 10,000 years later that damn boy was able to not only outwit him but he alone was able to come up with hundreds of complex strategies that he could never dream of. As much as he hated to admit, Achamoth was a tactical genius and had he been born a Forerunner he would have gladly worked with him.

While he came up with new ideas, Achamoth combined everything that was known to there and made up new ways to win space battles. Many believed his ideas were suicidal but every time he pulled off something it was almost impossible to believe it happened.

Taking some of his military strategies he changed them and then added them into his fleets so that they could be used more effectively. Sometimes the Ur-Didact wondered what was going on through the humans mind, but at least he had one card left up his sleeve that even Achamoth won't be able to stop.

The Composer.

"Nathaniel shut it; this isn't the time for jokes!" Achamoth gritted through his teeth but he was secretly scared inside since he hadn't seen Chant in awhile and he was hoping she had forgotten about that day, but apparently not.

"Chant-to-Green can you lower Achamoth we have a meeting that we must attend and we came here because you are requested to be in the council meeting." Faber said.

He was slightly annoyed at how chummy Forerunners, Humans, and San Shyuum have gotten over the past few years. But there was no denying that he was grateful for the role Achamoth did play in saving him and his fleet, when he was facing a large Flood force.

Nodding Chant lowered her arm but before Achamoth's feet touched the ground he felt himself get pulled towards Chant who then whispered into his ear. "We are going to have a chat later about that day 4 years ago." She then placed him down and followed everyone else. Nathaniel helped Achamoth up and grinned at him before they followed behind Chant, while Achamoth dusted off his robes.

**Location: Greater Ark  
Area: Citadel/ Council Chambers**

"What do you mean I am going to become the new Lifeshaper?" Chant demanded.

As all the senior members of the council was looking at her with various expressions. Most of them were wearing helmets but the few that didn't were looking at her with faces that showed no emotions since they have been at war for far too long.

"It would be best that I talk to you about your new promotion later Chant-to-Green." The Librarian said calming down Chant slightly who had tensed somewhat. Never had she expected that she would be named Lifeshaper especially since the Librarian was still around in top condition.

"Agreed now we must talk about the coming battle." The Iso-Didact said who had come to attend.

The Ur-Didact chose to stay in his warship since he still didn't support the alliance and would never stand to be in the same area as humans for long. Many high ranking Prometheans were depressed to know that he was staying in his ship but as long as Achamoth led the fleet they would gladly follow.

"Since the flood is being led by the re-activated Mendicant Bias we can assume he is going to gather everything he has for this battle."

"Yes but we mustn't forget about the Key Minds and Graveminds that are also going to be in the assault force." A councilor said.

"True but we mustn't forget that the Precursor Star Roads that make up nearly 50% of the Flood fleet. The chances of us winning this battle are nearly hopeless." Glory-of-a-Far-Dawn said.

-Line Break-

Recently Glory had become a Promethean and with it came the command of a prototype Leviathan-Fortress Class Warship. Many high ranking Human and San Shyuum commanders were slightly agitated that they were handing over a new ship to a newly promoted Promethean but none of them voiced their opinion.

Achamoth had vouched for her saying that if he could trust anyone with their new prototype it would be her. It was originally his idea to combine both ships and since he was for all intents and purposes the creator and overall designer of the ship, he had the most opinion on what to do with such a ship. The Leviathan-Fortress combined nearly everything the two ships had. While it was still a prototype, it was not to be messed with. Achamoth's Leviathan was still the flagship of the alliance but this new type of warship was able to rival his and would one day replace his current warship.

Currently its length was nearly 250km long, with several hundred hangers running down its hull. Each hanger was filled to the brim with hundreds of fighters, while some were also large enough to fit at least two destroyers inside. However underneath the ship sat an even larger hander that ran through a large portion of the ship.

Inside was a Forerunner Fortress Class Vessel that was ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. Unlike any other ship in the fleet it was like a large mobile space station. It carried its own person fleet inside of itself and at the same time had the largest crew in any one ship. Yet despite this ships size, the weapons are what made it nearly unstoppable. Like its predecessors it was filled to the brim with new weapons that had been made by their combined engineers.

Many of the weapons fired hard light, but instead of short and controlled bursts it fired a continuous beam that was meant to burn through anything and everything. Because of the ships sheer size, a convoy of ships would have to follow it, since it was almost impossible to miss. Every convoy would be at least 3 Leviathans and Fortress's, those were then followed by 16 destroyers not counting those that sat inside, waiting to be deployed.

And last but not least it front of the bottom hanger sat the ships main cannon. When Achamoth made the designs of this ship, he looked at all the current Leviathans and saw that having a weapon in the front was a bad design flaw. It took a long time to charge up the main cannon and if the Flood were smart all they would have to do is hit where all that energy was building up.

But like everything during war time, the ship cost almost complete total of three planets. Basically meaning that this type of ship wouldn't be seen very often, but since Achamoth had 1/3 of the galaxy he was able to brush it off. Only problem was that currently only three could be made at any one time.

Glory's was the first to be finished and now two are under construction and when this war is over, he will look over the designs and see if anything needs to be changed. To say the council was pissed that he gave such a ship to a Forerunner was an understatement however.

In order to quell the council's rage Glory went and met with said Council herself. She had fought in many battles alongside humans and almost every time she had saw how selfless they were when they would gladly sacrifice themselves for them despite being ancient enemies.

-Line Break-

"Glory speaks the truth," Achamoth said silencing everyone. "We have a slim… no we don't have a chance of victory in this coming battle. Instead we are going to divert everything they have here while the Iso-Didact prepares the Halo Array. Despite having most of our powerful ships here the flood outnumbers us in both numbers and intelligence."

"Achamoth I don't doubt your plan but currently we are outside of the Milky Way Galaxy and in the Intergalactic Void. Your plan of using the Halo Array won't work if they are outside of its blast radius." Faber said as he began to study this plan more thoroughly.

"I had taken many steps for this coming battle. Shortly after our sacrifice here Mendicant Bias will learn about the Lesser Ark as well and head there in hopes to stop the activation."

"If you are planning to reveal the location of the Lesser Ark as well then why are we going to sacrifice everything here?" Faber asked as he looked at the human with a puzzled expression.

"With the fall of the Greater Ark the Flood will believe the Ecumene has fallen and with it the only thing left to challenge them is the Halo Array. I am counting on Mendicant Bias wanting to stop it but the only way to reach the Lesser Ark is to break through the Maginot Spear."

"Maginot Spear? Don't you mean the Maginot Sphere?" Chant asked. Most of the people were looking at her like she was an idiot but many knew not to voice their opinions since they knew what she was like when she was angry. Or rather they heard what she was like and they didn't want to see it.

"Chant the Maginot Sphere was breached recently and that is why the flood is heading towards us at this very moment. As soon as the sphere fell I ordered all remaining Line Installations and ships to retreat to coordinate 003-211-54."

"Why there of all places it is near the intergalactic void?"

"That place is near the Lesser Ark. When the flood arrive in that area the remaining stations and ships will hold the flood fleet at bay while the rings will line up and fire. Wiping everything out in one fell swoop."

"Achamoth this plan is too risky; many people are sacrificing themselves for a useless engagement. At most we are going to sacrifice nearly 26,000 warships. Why aren't we just sending the halos out to their pre-set coordinates already?" the new First Prophet asked.

"Most of the ships here at the moment and the Maginot Spear are all being controlled by hundreds of A.I.'s we have trained specifically for this purpose." A Human Commander spoke up.

"If you are training Ancilla's to take your place on warships doesn't that mean, in the future most ships will be controlled by Ancilla's?" A Forerunner asked.

"No, we guarantee you right now that this type of thing is only going to happen once. After this all ships will be controlled by living personal. Not Ancilla's."

"Then what about the personal that are stationed aboard all these ships. We are sacrificing more human lives than absolutely necessary for this hopeless battle."

"I'll answer your first question. Many believe the same thing as you do. They all believed we don't need to sacrifice this entire fleet but everyone that is here is doing this for their own reasons. Some are seeking revenge others are staying because they feel they are obligated to, however everyone that is here today knows that there sacrifice will not be in vain."

Hearing that Chant just knew that Achamoth was telling her indirectly that he was going to stay behind and die as well. Gritting her teeth she placed her head in one of her hands mimicking a human a little before looking at Achamoth and raising one of her fingers. He didn't know it but she was going to have a longer discussion with him. With each finger she raised it would increase the time by another 5 minutes while the max would be 50.

**Greater Ark  
Room: Unknown**

Achamoth was being held by a constraint field and he had forgotten how many times he had been slammed into the wall. Looking at Chant he couldn't help but feel that this was his fault since he had kind of had to see this coming. Meanwhile standing outside of the door sat Nathaniel who was leaning against the door wanting to hear how the conversation was going.

"Achamoth do you have any idea how angry I am at you at the moment? Not only did you knock me out, you then had the nerve to then placing me onto a keyship. If it hadn't been for the Librarian's quick thinking I would have come back and we would be having this conversation much sooner."

"Chant you misunderstand I didn't have you transferred to a keyship—t" he was then silenced by a soft finger that was placed on his lips.

"Achamoth don't lie to me, the Librarian told me everything. You left me in her care before leaving and heading to the OCDO alongside the Iso-Didact. Had I not enjoyed my time indexing various species I would have come back sooner and I nearly did when the Ur-Didact attacked your fleet."

He wanted to argue with her but every time he tried to say something he would end up silenced. Deciding to let her have her time to talk he just stood there or rather didn't struggle and let the rant continue.

"Achamoth do you even understand what I am saying or are you just sleeping." Chant demanded, as she got right in his face. She hated how his face was covered in his helmet and if she were certain he wouldn't be injured she would rip the helmet open.

"Chant I am sorry for leaving you but the more I think about it the more I realize that I don't want to lose you. You are the most important person to me now and I couldn't bear to know that you had died." Even though it had been a long time he still loved her and she knew it.

"When will you realize that what you think is best for me isn't the right choice. Besides why have you never asked my opinion about your plans and you do realize right that I love you?" she asked as she placed a hand where her heart was.

It had taken her a long time to come to terms with her feelings but she was now willing to admit them freely since she had seen many things in the past few years. She didn't know how it happened but now she couldn't stand to be separated from him since he was a person who would do stupid things.

Not only that but when this war was over she wanted to show him so many things, and she wanted to see what the human worlds are all like. When she had visited she had only seen about 10 worlds not counting all the worlds that made up the capital of their empire.

When Achamoth heard Chant say her declaration he was to say the least shocked. Sure they had shared a few kisses and slept together once but he never thought it was love. Looking into her eyes he saw that she was truly honest and that whatever he said next would either make or break his chance to have a physical relationship with a Forerunner.

"Chant-to-Green I love you to."

Before she could say anything alarms started to blare and the room was filled with a red light. "A massive flood fleet is about to arrive everyone head to battle stations immediately." The hologram of Offensive Bias demanded before disappearing.

Looking out the window of the room Achamoth say multiple slipspace portals open and a massive flood fleet exited slipspace. The defensive fleet fired first and now the area was being filled with gold and green lights determined to destroy the other.

Glory's ship had already left, since she was needed at a different post. What she didn't know was that Achamoth had her moved since sacrificing that ship was something that he wouldn't allow.

"Achamoth I know you need to go but promise me that you will return to me." Chant said suddenly.

Achamoth looked at her and he felt that he was lowered and her arms had slumped to her side. Her armor had also darkened considerably and it was obvious that whatever was going on through her head was something that angered her considerably.

Taking her hands into his he held them close while she looked up into his face. He couldn't say the words but the way his eyes were looking at her was more than enough. Never would he admit it but he would return to her no matter what since he now had a reason to live. A part of him though was surprised by how he didn't have a reason a few hours ago but within a few minutes he had been given a reason to.

Grabbing his helmet Achamoth placed it on and went to the door. Before leaving he turned around and looked at Chant who was holding a hand to her heart again. Without a word he grabbed his rifle and ran out the door joining a group of soldiers that were heading to the despair-class fighters. As he ran though he felt that something inside him had changed and that now he wanted nothing more than to survive this battle.

Achamoth and Chant had lost their families during the Human-Flood Wars and now the two of them were drawn together. Was it a twist of fate, he did not know but one thing was certain he couldn't leave her alone in this galaxy. Both of their lives were intertwined. Once they were enemies and now they were… lovers.

**Several Hours Later  
Space Battle over the Greater Ark**

"Achamoth another Leviathan has been destroyed." An operator shouted as he kept him up to date on how the battle was progressing. For the past three hours the two fleets had been trading fire with one another. Gold beams were flying towards the flood controlled ships and burned away the biomass that enveloped the sips.

The beams burned the flood biomass away leaving nothing behind but more just took its place and the battle was beginning to change. It was almost as if the ships were unstoppable and that whatever they fired wasn't enough.

Staring out of the bridge of his Leviathan, Achamoth cursed as he watched another flood fleet exit slipspace next to their already impressive fleet. When the Flood first came here they had a total of 100,000 ships but now he was certain that they were within the million ranges. But the more ships the more he realized that they were planning something.

It then suddenly hit him Achamoth knew what the flood was doing; it was a rather obvious strategy that he had failed to notice. The majority of the flood fleet was beginning to expand outwards and was surrounding the defenders. From what he learned from his many engagements with the Flood it was one of Mendicant Bias's favorite strategies.

Thanks to the processing power of Offensive Bias on their side he was able to counter his strategy on the left side. The right side was being held at bay by Nathaniel's fleet but they were taking incredible loses by the minute. Achamoth wanted to support him but he knew better then to concentrate on one area or else the flood would build up in one area and they would be nearly unbeatable.

As several thousand fighters flew past the bridge he watched as the space in-between the two fleets lit up with thousands of small golden spheres before vanishing. Even though he couldn't see it he knew what was happening since he had seen enough battles to understand what was happening. All the fighters were flying sorties hoping to damage the fleet in some way but the flood continued to launch dispersal pods and fighters to keep them at bay.

Already millions of fighters had been destroyed and the remaining ones were being used to defend the warships from pods. But there wasn't nearly enough fighters, they fought valiantly sacrificing themselves when necessary and each fighter Achamoth watched blow up pained him. Each time reminded him of Fredric and the sacrifice made. Remembering that it was in the past Achamoth looked out the bridge and something was telling him to fire a beam right into the center of the fleet.

Giving the order to use the main cannon several destroyers formed up in front while the cannon extended. As the cannon locked into place Achamoth then ordered the cannon to fire but before the beam could leave a giant metal pillar tore right through the center of his ship.

Shrapnel flew off in all directions while small traces of red started to flow from the holes. Human and San Shyuum bodies were sent into the darkness of space. Many were screaming, but those that weren't willing to die without doing anything first used their weapons and fired on the pillar.

Achamoth saw hundreds of small blue red lights hitting the pillar but another pillar ripped through the hull of the ship and smashed those brave souls. Like the other time shrapnel went flying and a piece of the port side nearly slammed into the bridge.

Soon several more of these large metallic pillars shot through the ship and then he realized what they were. Achamoth cursed, he should have known. The reason no Precursor Star Roads had shown up was because they had jumped underneath them.

Looking out of the bridge he saw several ships get gutted by Star Roads that then proceeded to crush the ships until nothing remained. As several more pillars ripped through his ship, Achamoth saw that they were beginning to crush his ship in half. Seeing how foolish he had been Achamoth knew that the only thing left was to fire before it became too late.

"Fire the cannon immediately!" Achamoth shouted and the officers all nodded since they knew this was there last act in life.

A large blue beam fired from the main cannon right as the Star Road split his ship in half. Bracing his self for an explosion he watched as the Star Road moved towards the front half of his ship first. Achamoth looked at the fleet in front and saw that a large hole had been made and that two ships were flying through. One he recognized as the Mantles Approach and the other was the Audacity.

"Traitor." Achamoth murmured as he watched the first half of his ship get crushed.

Achamoth didn't see it but the crew was sent flying into the dark void of space. Escape pods were continuously ejecting from the ship and the hangers that hadn't been destroyed had ships leaving at a quick rate. Some ranged from fighters, while others were drop ships.

"Achamoth come on this ship is lost." An operator said that had grabbed his arm and was trying to tug him. Turning to face the operator he saw that it was none other than Enzo.

"A captain goes down with his ship." Was all Achamoth said before turning around and staring out of the bridge.

Enzo dropped his arm and slowly stepped back from his leader. Slowly he turned around and ran as tears fell from his eyes. Achamoth was willing to stay behind with his ship until the very end and he was running away like a coward. Running down the hall towards the escape pods, Enzo ran past a person that was heading towards the bridge with a cloak on.

Once he heard the sound of Enzo running away Achamoth sighed and looked around the bridge. All the operators had already left, while the only thing that remained was his self and a few dead bodies.

_Chant I'm sorry_. He thought as the Star Road approached him slowly.

As a pillar shot forward aimed right at the bridge Achamoth felt someone grab onto his shoulder and threw him backwards. Flying through the air he saw that an old friend had tossed him but he couldn't fathom why. Looking back in mid air a slipspace portal opened and he realized what his friend had done.

Raising a hand towards the ceiling was all Achamoth saw as he disappeared in the slipspace portal. He didn't miss much since soon after teleporting all flood vessels fired on his ship and destroyed what remained of it.

With the complete destruction of Achamoth's flagship the remaining commander's morale started to fall drastically. And with it the left side of the fleet started to fall into disarray. All the remaining Flood controlled ships under Mendicant Bias's command broke off from the main fleet and was taking advantage of the opening he saw. He was hoping to split the alliances remaining overall strength but his brother Offensive Bias cut him off and now they were engaged in a battle which had never been seen before.

The Forerunners and Humans Ancilla's were being overworked. In order to overload them the flood continued to launch millions of dispersal pods towards the ships. Some broke through the point defense lasers and many ships were starting to be overrun by the floods continuous onslaught.

As the battle dragged on it was slowly becoming obvious the remaining commanders who hadn't fallen to the flood's onslaught that it was now over. The Precursor Star Roads had now appeared and the majority of the Leviathans had been destroyed. The only ones that remained were Nathaniel's but none of them had the power to combat dozens of star roads.

So far Faber's halo had only fired once and it had taken out a large portion of the flood fleet. However it didn't come without a price, many ships were caught in the beam and had perished. The only constellation for their death was that it was quick and painless but it left a bitter taste in Faber's mouth.

He had not only killed thousands of Forerunners but many humans and San Shyuum were now deceased. At least he was now going to pay the price for firing the halo. The Star Roads were moving in on his Halo and now he was going to gladly accept death. As they started to tear his installation apart he felt someone grab his arm and throw him backwards. The next thing he knew was that he was floating through a slipspace portal, with his destination unknown.

**Greater Ark: Citadel**

Seeing that the battle was drawing to an end Chant ran towards her keyship that was still currently docked on the Greater Ark. The battle had already been decided and she refused to let Achamoth die here. His Leviathan had vanished, but he promised her that he wouldn't die and that he would come back. even if the chances were slim she had to search the last location his ship was located at.

As the docking panels released her keyship she directed it into the battle barely dodging the flood dispersal pods that were homing in on her. The majority of the fleet had been destroyed and the remaining vessels were damaged. Offensive Bias had calculated that the fleet would last maybe an hour at best but ships were continuing to blow up each second as the flood fleet continued to push forward.

The Greater Ark's Defenses finally activated and hundreds of guns started firing on the approaching Flood fleet. Problem was that it was already too late. Those ships that remained were doomed and some of them were retreating to the Maginot Spear.

Directing her Keyship to Achamoth's last known location, she noticed that the remaining ships were getting into a formation. It was a rag tag one but they were covering her ship with themselves, so that she could find Achamoth and get away as soon as possible. As she passed by hundreds of ruined ships she saw thousands of Flood dispersal pods flying towards her.

There was no time to activate her weapons and they were about to hit. Suddenly the remaining fighters flew over followed by one of the remaining Leviathans. They fired all their weapons burning the pods, but some broke through and the Leviathan started falling. All flood ships were concentrating on it wanting nothing more than to split them in half.

Seeing her chance to escape Chant looked ahead and saw that the only thing that remained of Achamoth's Leviathan was its hull. The majority of the ship had been torn apart by something and then it proceeded to crush the remains of the ship leaving no trace except for ruins.

Falling to her knees Chant started crying in despair that Achamoth had truly died in this battle. He had promised her that he would survive but now his ship was floating in front of her in ruins. With him gone she now had no reason to live herself. She lost her family and when she thought she found someone to be in her life, he ended up dying as well.

Looking up from her hands, she had hundreds of lasers flying towards her Keyship. Seeing no reason left to live she looked away waiting for her ship to explode and take her to the afterlife where Achamoth was most likely waiting for her.

Seeing that Chant's Keyship was no longer moving Nathaniel ordered his ship to act as a shield for her. Using its last reserves of power the ship jumped into slipspace before appearing in front of Chants ship. The port side was directed towards the lasers and it took the complete force of the flood fleet.

Feeling something was wrong Chant looked up and realized that a Leviathan was using itself as a shield for her. "Chant you need to leave immediately." A voice said startling her.

Turing around a hologram of Nathaniel appeared on her bridge. His helmet was missing along with one of his arms while the center of his forehead was bleeding.

"Nathaniel what happened to you?" she shrieked. Despite only knowing one another for a short time he was the first other than Achamoth who had accepted her into their fleet when she first found him.

"Chant there is no time to worry about me besides I am almost dead as it is," glancing at his arm. "You leave this battle immediately. Achamoth will be heartbroken to know that you died here of all places when you could have survived."

"Achamoth is dead Nathaniel. The ship that is floating in front of you is what remains of his proud warship. Besides what about you!" she demanded.

"Chant there is no time besides this battle is over and we have lost. My Leviathan is going to explode any second now. Besides even if I did survive, my arm is missing and I'm bleeding out as it is."

"Well if you're staying here I will as well. Achamoth—o"

"Chant, Achamoth isn't dead; before his ship was destroyed I had someone rescue him."

Chant was shocked to hear that Nathaniel had saved him. But a part of her was telling her to ask where he was since she hadn't heard from him. If he had survived he would have contacted her, but instead he was silent.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"I had him sent to humanities ancient home world of Erde-Tyrene. If you go there you will find him. Now that you now go immediately, my ship won't be able to hold out against this onslaught much longer."

She wanted to argue but her feelings for Achamoth were the dominant emotions running through her at the moment. Nodding she set the coordinates to Erde-Tyrene where Achamoth was supposedly waiting for her. Chant knew there was only one way available to escape now and it was to go up. Directing her ship upwards, she put all the ships power into the thrusters and it shot upwards surprising the flood fleet. None of them had been expecting such a ship to fly upwards so suddenly.

They tried to stop her from escaping, but Nathaniel's Leviathan fired on them drawing all their attention on his ship. Nathaniel stood on the bridge and smiled at his crew as all the Flood ships fired everything they had at them. Smiling back at their leader they accepted their fate and said farewell knowing this was the end.

Exploding into a fiery inferno, Nathaniel's Leviathan and everyone onboard went up in a fiery death. The constellation prize was that they had Achamoth's heart and she was the one who would make sure he lived. Achamoth would still be needed in future and they were all expendable even if he didn't believe it his self.

Right before her Keyship entered Slipspace Chant looked back and was disheartened to see Nathaniel's ship explode. The remaining ships started retreating to her guess the Maginot Spear, while the Greater Ark was swarmed by the entire flood fleet. Within seconds the Ark was destroyed and she turned away knowing this was her only chance.

Entering a slipspace portal she escaped, hoping that Achamoth was truly awaiting her on Erde-Tyrene. But she had to remember she was running on a time limit. The Halos were going to be moved soon and if she didn't hurry, the chances of saving Achamoth would be zero.

**Location: Erde-Tyrene**

Achamoth opened his eyes and looked around his surroundings. Everything around him was lush and green, without a trace of any Flood or technology in site. Pulling his self up, he tried to remember how he got here. Remembering his Leviathan got torn apart, he remembered that someone had grabbed him and tossed him into a slipspace portal.

Rubbing his arms, he looked around again and saw someone lying on the ground less than 30ft away. Without thinking that it might be an enemy, Achamoth ran over and saw that it was none other Faber. Another slipspace portal suddenly opened behind him.

Spinning around and reaching for his weapon Achamoth was surprised to see Nathaniel fly out of the portal. Running over to his friend he saw that he was bleeding heavily and unless he got treatment soon he would die.

Looking around for something to use, Achamoth ripped off of his chest plate revealing his body suit underneath. Grapping his right should he tore that part of the suit off and wrapped it around Nathaniel's bleeding arm. Making sure it was tight and in place, he fell back and looked up into the sky wondering where he was.

"Achamoth what are you doing here?" a familiar voice said.

Turning around Achamoth saw none other than the Librarian standing over him.

* * *

**Well that's all for now. See you all next time and I hope you liked it. I had originally planned to end this war in 3 chapters but I guess I'm not so lucky huh. Oh well at least I can fit some of the canon story in before I go to Mass Effect. Now I have a question to ask everyone before I go. Should I include the Karen Traviss stories in this one. Basically I mean like making characters we all love and enjoy seem like weaklings and have things that don't make sense. Like say all the Engineers vanishing without a trace?**


End file.
